


SEVENTEEN

by Neutral03



Category: ENHYPEN (Band), GOT7, NU'EST, PRISTIN (Band), SEVENTEEN (Band), Stray Kids (Band), TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending., Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Based off of the tv show LEVERAGE, ENHYPEN only mentioned., F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Food Poisoning, Gang AU, Gen, Hardships, Loving boyfriends, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mpreg, Multi, Other, Past Miscarrige, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape, Rape Recovery, SEVENTEEN is a family, Sick Characters, Talk of mental illness, Violence, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:47:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 25
Words: 252,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21611554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neutral03/pseuds/Neutral03
Summary: The plan was perfect, almost full- proof. There was no way for any of them to mess this up it had been planned out that much. It was to be absolutely full proof, nothing was set to go wrong.
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon, Choi Beomgyu/Huening Kai/Kang Taehyun, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, Choi Seungcheol | S.Coups/Yoon Jeonghan, Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V/Park Jimin, Jeon Wonwoo/Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Min Yoongi | Suga, Kim Mingyu/Xu Ming Hao | The8, Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Seokjin | Jin, Lee Chan | Dino/Original Character(s), Lee Jihoon | Woozi/Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Lee Seokmin | DK/Original Character(s), Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Yoon Jeonghan/Hong Jisoo|Joshua
Comments: 38
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I just posted another work and I know that I said that I would update everything else and haven't yet, but I got sidetracked when I found this SEVENTEEN Gang Au and fell in love with it, and then realized that there weren't enough of them out there so I decided to write one. This took me about a month to write the first chapter so I don't know when it will be updated, but it will be, along with my other stories at some point I promise.  
> -N.

Chapter 1

The plan was perfect, almost full- proof. There was no way for any of them to mess this up it had been planned out that much. It was to be absolutely full proof, nothing was set to go wrong. At least that was what Jihoon was told earlier that day when they were going over the final plan for the job. Though now that they’re actually going through with it and at least 10 different things has already gone wrong and they have barely been in there for 15 minutes. And to make matters worse he had a worried Joshua Hong looking over his shoulder the whole entire time, and was breathing down his neck asking what was going on and would everyone be ok. Now, normally on a regular basis Jihoon wouldn’t have minded his Hyung bugging him about the team’s safety as they went through a mission. He knows that Joshua worries about them, especially S. Coups, and Jeonghan, and rightfully so since he doesn’t like to go out into the field, and normally stays behind to act as the medic when he has time off. And he understands that part of the reason that he does this is because he’s worried about them all and it’s driving him crazy that he doesn’t have any control over the situation. So he goes to bug the closest person who most of the time kind of does. And that person just so happens to be Jihoon himself. But with the way that the night was going this time, he was about two seconds away from biting his Hyung’s head off like it was a chew toy. And if he has to answer anymore questions about rather or not it’s still safe for them to be in the office building where the job is taking place he’s going to scream. He was barely able to keep himself from blowing up and the only reason that he didn’t was partly that Seungkwan was passed out asleep on the couch behind him after pulling an almost 48 hour shift at the local hospital, and Seokmin who had just come in from his own shift and was able to pull Joshua away to ask for his help with something. And for that Jihoon was thankful for, because even though he loves his Hyung dearly and would do anything for the man, he was about ready to kill him if his two dosaengs hadn’t had taken over for him. 

Now he could get back to his work without any interruptions and that left him feeling a little bit giddy. “Woozi, you there, I repeat Woozi, you there, come in Woozi.” Jihoon or Woozi as he came to be known as his code name sighed as he heard the comms crackle to life and the voice of his best friend was what he heard. “What is it now Hoshi, we don’t have time for any chit-chat we have a job to do you know.” He knew that he came off a little bit mean to his best friend, but his patience was running thin tonight with everybody. He’d apologized to him later whenever they got home, but for now he just wanted him to shut up so they could just go ahead and get the job done. “Well, sorry for interrupting you oh so important work there sunshine, but I wanted to call you to inform you that your work or lack thereof has gotten us in a little bit of a jam.” Hoshi told him curtly. And from the tone of his voice Woozi could tell that he was pissed off at him. Great, he would have to do a lot of sleepovers, and ass- kissing for him to forgive him about this. “Just shut up and tell him what’s going on Hosh, we don’t have time for your petty bickering.” Wonwoo cut in, and from the grunting in the background Jihoon could tell that he was having difficulty getting whatever gadget he was working on to activate to help hack into the company’s database. Once he accessed that then Jihoon could go in from the apartment and take the scumbags down once and for all. The only problem was that he needed someone else to actually go into the building to get him access because of the company’s security. And that was where Wonwoo came in. Though to get Wonwoo in, required the help of the rest of the team. So that was how S.Coups. Jeonghan, Jun, Hoshi, Mingyu, The8, Veron, and Dino went in to help him out. Hoshi and The8 went in through the vents to get to the flashdrive that the CEO kept in his office of all of their dirty laundry and backhanded business dealings. Jun went with Wonwoo as his back up in case they were to run into trouble. S.Coups and Mingyu were out on the floor working the crowd, since the night they chose to pull the job off was the night they were hosting a big charity advent. With Vernon undercover as a waiter/janitor so that he could have access to move around and help out where he was needed without looking suspicious about it. And Jeonghan and Dino were out in the car acting as lookouts, and the getaway drivers. The plan that S.Coups had come up with was supposed to get them in and out in under 45 minutes at the most. The team had been in there for almost 25 and they still hadn’t gotten what they had come here for. This meant that something bad had happened. “What happened that my hacking skills have put you in a jam?” He questioned them. “Well, what our dear Hoshi-Hyung is talking about is that you Woozi-Hyung had forgotten to turn off all of the security measures in the office. When we got here we ran into a setup of lasers around the safe.” The8 said in his normal sarcastic voice. 

Woozi cursed himself in his head for how stupid that was of him, he should have gone and triple checked that he disarmed everything beforehand, but he had gotten busy with the rest of the prepreations for the mission. Well, at least he knew that out of all of the members of the team that could have encountered it, he was glad that it was Hoshi and The8. He knew that those two could figure out anyway to get to the flashdrive. That was one of the only things about this mission that he was confident about. Now,he would just have to make sure that whatever it was that they did to get it wouldn’t make it easy to detect that they were there and risk getting everyone else who’s on the inside getting caught. This was going to be a long night for Jihoon, and he’ll be lucky if he gets to sleep at all tonight. Though that doesn’t mean anything, since he normally doesn’t sleep really at all at night, and just sort of conks out on people throughout the day. And yes, he knows that isn’t healthy and that he worries everyone, especially the hyungs when he does this, but he can help it! What can he say, he’s a workaholic. Getting back on track, Woozi went to work con covering their tracks while Hoshi and The8 were trying to get through the lasers to get to the safe. He would check the monitors periodically to make sure that everything was running smoothly. At one point he just happened to look up and see The8 using his drone or trying to use it while Hoshi was trying to crawl through the lasers. He watched the glare that his best friend had sent at the little drone like it had somehow offended him(knowing Soonyoung, it probably had) and it was the end of the world that they were using it. Woozi shook his head at his best friend’s antics, leave it up to Hoshi and Jeonghan and sometimes Seungkwan to always find a time to be dramatic in a situation. None the less they were able to get the two theives in and out of there without any incident. It wasn’t until he made sure that they were out of there that he dared tried for a check-in with the team. 

“Alright everybody,time for a check-in, just to make sure that all of y’all are alive.” Woozi said into his mike. “I already know where Joshua-Hyung, Seokmin, and Seungkwan are, so everyone else please sound off.” “ Wonwoo here.” Wonwoo grunted out into his mike. Woozi wasn’t sure if he was still busy doing his thing or he just felt like grunting. It was probably a mixture of both and he decided not to question it. “Hoshi and The8 here!” Hoshi yelled into his mike, for the both of them. Jihoon cringed at how loud his volume was, and he could feel Minghao rolling his eyes at the older thief. “Dino, and Jeonghan-Hyung here.” Chan said into his ear piece. It wasn’t really wasn’t that important to have the two of them check-in, since the two of them were sitting outside in the car waiting as the getaway driver. Though Jihoon was slightly worried about Jeonghan since he didn’t speak. Normally, his Hyung wouldn’t hesitate to put in his two cents at any given time and took great pleasure out of what he had to say about any given situation that they were in, so when he’s non-verbal it’s safe to say that there was something wrong with him. And taking a glance over his shoulder he could tell by the look that Joshua had on his face that he was thinking the same thing. And if their leader was in the same room as them, then he too would have a similar look on his face. If there’s one thing that Jihoon definitely knew about his team, was the the 95 line of the Hyung line knew each other like open books and they couldn’t hide anything from each other. It at the same time both amazed and terrified him at how well all three of them know each other. It also shows how much all three of them love and care for each other on a daily basis. Now, Jihoon will admit that he may not understand exactly what is going on with them and how their relationship is supposed to work half of the time, but he sees how happy they all make each other and that is enough for him to just roll with it like everyone else. And what the other kids don’t seem to realize is that Jihoon was one of the ones who witnessed all of them getting together, and that was a very long, painful, and drawn out process that he wishes to forget most of the time. 

Though focusing his attention back on the mission, Jihoon actually thought that this mission would actually work in their favor for once. Not that their missions were failures or anything, no once the team got on to something, they did it and succeded at it. It’s just that things don’t always go as they planned sometimes, like now. And right when he was thinking that things couldn’t possibly get any worse(Which he really needs to stop doing, because that thought always jinxes them) was the precise moment that the security alarm started to go off. Needless to say that he was shocked beyond belief. He had gone through everything that he could find on the company and their security and then went over all of it with the team. He didn’t know what was wrong, Jihoon had gone through every single possibility that he could think of and he came up with a plan for everything. He couldn’t pinpoint what had gone wrong…. “Mingyu!” He heard shouted over the comlink. From the tone of the voice that he heard it sounded like S.Coups. “We told you to memorize the lay-out of the building and figure out which tiles were the false ones that set off the alarm!” He reprimanded him. Woozi sighed to himself as he could picture the face that their leader was giving their resident clutz. They’ll be lucky if they can get out of their without being found out by the guards with how loud S.Coups was yelling. And you can tell that he’s made since he never yells. Seungcheol never gets mad like ever! The person who you can always count on being a hot-head is Soonyoung, and Woozi himself. Seungcheol was the calm, cool and level-headed leader, who always knew how to talk to people and figure out a way to solve all of their problems. So it was safe to say that he was a little miffed with Mingyu at the moment. “I’m sorry Hyung! I didn’t mean too, my slipped and when I tried to stop it I tripped and my foot landed on the tile. Everyone could hear the ernesty in his voice and knew that even though Mingyu was the tallest, broadest and most intimidating member by appearance alone, he’s just a big kid in a grown man’s body. Half the time he won’t even go and kill a spider. His reason for that is that spiders are people too, and they deserve to live a full life, then when Seokmin points out how big it is, then it’s the that’s what Minghao’s for. So he knows that Jeonghan and Joshua will probably have a talk with the two of them when they get home. 

“Seungcheol, Mingyu enough! You are both grown men, not children, and not to mention the fact that we’re in the middle of a mission! So, I’m sure that you two don’t have to be told twice to behave and act like mature adults. And don’t think that we aren’t talking about this when this is over. Now get the hell out of there!” Jeonghan barked over the comm. Woozi was slightly scared at that comment. Not only was it the first time that Jeonghan had talked the entire time, it also didn’t sound like him. Everybody knew that Jeonghan was the mother of the group and tended to baby everyone, but when he got mad he got mad, and he went off on you. Though he never acted like that with anyone, not even Seungcheol and Joshua, especially those two. Something was off about this situation, but what it was Jihoon couldn’t pinpoint at the moment. Well, that was something else to add to his to-do list of stuff to when everyone gets home. And Jihoon can only guess how well that discussion will go later on in the night. Though for now his main focus needs to be on getting the rest of the team out without any more hiccups on the way there. 

“Status update, where is everyone?” Woozi barked into his mic. He needs to know where everyone is to see if he has to alter their already designated escape routes that they had planned out already a few weeks ago. “Jeonghan-Hyung and I are in the getaway car waiting on S.Coups, Wonwoo and Mingyu Hyungs.” Dino reported. Woozi hummed in acknowledgement that he had heard him. “Vernon and I are in the parking garage waiting on Hoshi and The8, by the way you two better hurry up, we think that security is on there way down looking for us.” Jun said into his comm link. Woozi could hear Vernon in the background moving around while he was probably checking to see if they had been caught yet. “The8 and I are almost to the extraction point, we just have to get through the last of the vents and then we’ll be there.” Hoshi whispered. And Woozi could hear Minghao muttering underneath his breath as they were crawling through the metal ventilation shaft. Looking through the program that he has up and running to check where everyone’s progress was, he could see that everyone was close enough to be able to get out. He had heard from everyone but S.Coups, Wonwoo and Mingyu. This wasn’t good, he glanced over his shoulder at Joshua to see his reactions. He was hunched in on himself, looking at the monitors. Woozi could tell that he was nervous since they hadn’t heard from Seungcheol to see if he was alright or not. “S.Coups, do read, S.Coups where are you guys? Seungcheol Hyung come on pick up.” They all heard Dino say into his comm. And it was quite obvious that he was worried about his older brother. “We’re here, and almost to the extraction point, Woozi go ahead and light them up.” They heard their leader grunt into the comm. “You sure, you guys are out right?” Joshua questioned as he leaned in closer to look at the monitors. “Yes, we’re good, you’ve got the go ahead Woozi.” Woozi sighed to himself as he listened to their leader, he figured that Seungcheol was just saying that so they could try and slow down the guards that were chasing them. “Whatever.” He replied into the comm. And with a few clicks of the keys on his keyboard and he set off the explosives that they had Jun and Vernon plant around the building the day before. The next thing that they knew they heard a big boom as all of the explosives went off at once. Watching the footage from the security cameras that they had tapped into to see where everyone was. They saw Dino and Jeonghan parked on the side of the road across the street near a side entrance waiting on the rest of their party. And in the parking garage on the bottom floor they saw Jun inside the car that Vernon hotwired, while Vernon was outside waiting on Hoshi and The8 to get there. And then they saw said two thieves crawling out of an air duct and rush over to their getaway car. The only people that they haven’t seen yet are the ones that told them to blow it up. It was then that Woozi realized that they were still in the building and were in their when the bombs went off. “They’re still in there!?!” He heard Joshua yell as he realized that one of his lovers and two of his daesangs were still in the building that they just blew up. And Woozi could only imagine what Dino and Jeonghan were going through as they both realized what had happened and that there was no one there to keep them from going to go look for them. Woozi was about ready to call everyone in when he heard the comms crackle to life. “Don’t freak out everyone, we’re ok. The blast gave us a little boost out and we should be in the car in like 2 minutes.” They heard Seungcheol say. “Choi Seungcheol!” Jeonghan and Joshua shouted over the comms in unison. Woozi could imagine the degree of how hard their leader flinched at the pissed off tone of his two lovers. “You guys can yell at him when we get back, but right now we have to go and I think that Mingyu hurt his ankle.” They heard Wonwoo say calmly, always the peacemaker. Woozi heard Joshua sighed to himself and mumbled what he figured were a few choice words in English that made Vernon choke and went to go get DK. “Come one Seokminnie, lets go get our stuff so we can bandaged up the idiots.” He said as he dragged the only other med student who was awake out the door. Woozi shook his head and sighed to himself as he watched his Hyung go out the door fuming. And the only thing that he could think of was that this was going to be a very long night. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Seungkwan woke up with a start when he heard a loud bang sound out through the whole apartment. He shot up and fell off of the couch that he had been sleeping on when he came back from his shift at the hospital and crashed. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep on the couch and had intended to be awake so that he could help patch up his Hyungs when they got from their mission, but his body had other plans for him. Though he was awake now since that loud bang he had just heard was the front door slamming shut. So, he decided to pull himself off of the floor, and head into the living room to see what all the fuss was about. And he decided to double time it when he started to hear yelling. He rushed out of the room and down the hallway to the living room where he pinpointed that all of the noise that he heard was coming from. When he entered the room it was total chaos. Mingyu was sitting on the couch next to Minghao who looked quite upset with him, while Seokmin was sitting in front of him on the coffee table wrapping up his ankle. And surrounding them were Jun, Vernon, Dino and Wonwoo. And all the shouting that he had heard was coming from the kitchen area where Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Joshua, Woozi, and Jihoon were all located. From what Seungkwan could understand of it, it seemed like the 95 liners were the ones doing most of the shouting, while Woozi, and Hoshi were trying to diffuse the situation. Feeling lost and confused about what he had missed while he was asleep, he went over to the couch where the majority of the group was seated. “Wonwoo-Hyung, what’s going on?” Seungkwan asked, he knew that if he asked Wonwoo then his Hyung would tell him straight forward what was going on between the rest of the group. “That’s partly my fault Kwanie, I messed up on the mission and accidentally triggered the alarm.”Mingyu said embarrassed. “Seungcheol Hyung got mad and yelled at me, then Jeonghan Hyung got mad at him and started yelling at him.” Seungkwan nodded his head in understanding. That he got, Mingyu Hyung, regardless of how hard he tried was very clumsy, and this wasn’t the first time that he had slipped and fell on a mission and hurt himself. That explained why Jeonghan and Seungcheol were fighting, but that didn’t explain why Joshua was in on it too. Joshua is normally one of the more calmer Hyungs that Seungkwan has, he’s chill, calm and most of the time is so relaxed that he has to be propped up. “Ok, but why is Shua-Hyung mad then?” He asked. “Oh, that’s because Seungcheol Hyung almost blew up him, Mingyu-ah and Wonwoo.” Jun told him. And the way that his Hyung had delivered it made it seem like this was a natural and as good natured as petting a kitten. Well, at least that explained why everyone was mad at their leader now. And Jihoon and Soonyoung were stuck in the middle since they are the backup leaders if something were to happen to Seungcheol. Man, he missed a lot while he was asleep! 

Just as he was about to ask another question, was when he heard Jeonghan yell that he was done and watched him storm out of the kitchen and go through the living room to head to the 95s bedroom. After his exit from the group argument in the kitchen, the whole entire apartment had become silent. You could have heard a pin drop in the apartment, it was so quiet, which was very unusual for them. Not that long after Jeonghan stormed out did Joshua and Seungcheol come into the living room, with Woozi and Hoshi coming up behind them. Joshua paused on his way to the bedroom to talk to Jeonghan, which what he always did after he got in a fight with anybody. Joshua’s calming nature worked on everybody in the group and after an argument, even if he was in it, he would be sent in to calm everyone down so that they could talk. “DK, do you need any help or is Kwannie enough to help you patch everyone up?” Joshua asked in a clipped tone, and you knew he was pissed when he used it. “I’m fine Hyung, go check on Hyung, no one’s really hurt except for Mingyu and if I need help I’ve got Seungkwan here.” Said med student nodded his head in approval at his Hyungs words. “Go check on him Hyung, we’ve got it.” Joshua nodded and he let a small, tired smile slip out. Before he left he turned to Seungcheol and poked a finger into his chest. “You stay here and apologize, got it, and give me some time before you try and come in there.” He told him. Then he stalked off into their bedroom and shut the door behind him. And that left Seungcheol in the living room with everyone else looking lost, and like a kicked puppy. Everybody just sat there in silence looking at him and wondering what he was going to do. 

“Hyung?” Dino questioned as he looked at his older brother. He knew that he loved both of his lovers just as much as he loved him. He also knew that whenever they thought it hurt his brother a lot. His voice seemed to be what snapped his brother out of his stupor. “Yes, Channie?” He asked, in a dazed voice. “Are you ok?” “Yeah, I’m fine Channie, I just realized something that I forgot earlier.” He said. He then looked at Mingyu where he was still seated on the couch. “Mingyu-ah, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have lashed out on you like I did, you didn’t mean to trip and I know that you tried your hardest to stop yourself from falling and triggering the alarm in the process.” “That’s alright Hyung, there’s no hurt feelings and I know that you didn’t mean it. And I get it I’m clumsy and I break things, that’s just something that happens whenever I’m around, I’m used to it.” Mingyu told him. “Though if I were you I’d probably start making a pot of tea unless you’re willing to either find someone to bunk with or sleep on the couch for the night.” Seungcheol huffed out a laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that, I better get started then.” Seungcheol said as he went back to the kitchen to make some tea to help get himself back on his boyfriend’s good graces. 

It wasn’t long after their leader left that Jihoon just dropped down to the floor in a huff. “Woozi-Hyung are you ok?” Vernon asked as he leaned over the side of the couch to check on him. He got a muffled grunt in response as an answer. “What did he say?” Vernon asked. “Oh, he said ‘It’s going to be a long night.’” Hoshi said as he bent down to try and get his best friend off of the ground. And everyone else enjoyed a few minutes of comedy as they watch Woozi try to bite Hoshi on the arm, when he tried to pick him up. Jun rolled his eyes at his same age friend’s antics. But he felt good inside regardless, these people who may not be the most sane people in the world, are his family. They may be a bunch of crazy people thrown together because of their circumstances, but they were family nonetheless. And that’s how he knew that things would be ok, because they were a family and families stick together. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Closing the bedroom door behind him, Joshua was careful to make his presence known in the room, so that its other occupant knew that he wasn’t alone. Walking further into the dark room the young man noticed that the bedroom window that led to the fire escape was wide open. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that was where Jeonghan was. He smiled to himself at how well he knew the other boy as he made his way to the window. Climbing out onto the fire escape, Joshua was met with a biting chill from the wind. He shivered voluntarily as he finished climbing out so that he could sit down next to the long haired boy. For a while the two just sat there in silence for what must have been 10 or 15 minutes, with Joshua shivering in his thin sweater that he had over top of his hospital scrubs, and Jeonghan just sitting there in a short sleeved shirt, staring off into space. “You know if you’re cold you can go back inside, you don’t need to be out here where you could get sick, you have a class tomorrow Joshua.” Was the the first thing that Jeonghan has directly to him since he got home from the mission. “Says, the one of us that’s out here with just a thin t-shirt on and no coat, at least I have a sweater.” Joshua retorted. Even though he wasn’t facing him, he could tell that Jeonghan was rolling his eyes at him. Whenever Jeonghan gets in one of his moods, he’s not very talkative, he just rather sit there and stare off into space. Despite what he projects out onto the rest of the people that he encounters that he is a happy, playful, and bubbly person, he’s not. In reality Jeonghan is very shy and timid, especially when he meets you for the first time. He’s also not a very open person, Joshua can suspect that it’s because of how much he was hurt in his younger years before he joined Seungcheol. Which makes this a lot harder, since he doesn’t want to open to people. He prefers to just keep everything to himself since he was raised to believe that he was a burden to everyone around them. Now, don’t get him wrong Joshua loves Seungcheol, and he also loves Jeonghan, but there was just sometimes that he wanted to take him and smack him upside the head really hard. 

“You know the real reason why I’m out here don’t you?” Joshua asked him as he scooted closer to him since it was so cold outside. He heard his lover huff in response and shake his head. “Look, I’m not mad at you ok Jeonghan, I know that you got mad because Seungcheol yelled at Mingyu and then tried to blow himself up 10 minutes later, and I know that it upset you greatly, but I also know that’s not really why you freaked out and blew up at him.” “What do you want me to say?” Jeonghan questioned, and Joshua could tell by the tone of his voice that he was trying not to cry, and if he looked over at his face he could see exactly how bloodshot his eyes are. “I want you to tell me what’s wrong so that I can help you, because I love you.” He told him. Jeonghan sucked in a breath before he let it out shakily. “When… When I heard Cheolie get onto Mingyu I knew that it probably wouldn’t be anything big, I mean come on, even though Seungcheol is our leader, he still isn’t scary enough when it comes to getting onto to anyone.” Jeonghan paused for a moment to take a deep breath. “When I realized that he was madder than he normally was, that’s when it hit me, he sounded like HIM.” Joshua figured that what was wrong with him. The HIM in question that he was referring to is Jeonghan’s father, well his step-father. His birth father was a dead-beat drunk who was never around. He ditched Jeonghan and his mother when he was just a couple of months old. And when he was a little over a year his mom met and married another man, he treated Jeonghan like he was his own son, and he even got a little sister out of their marriage. Everything was great in his life until he was almost to middle school. When he was about 11 or 12 his step-father had developed a gambling problem, he would take all of their money and go and gamble it all away within a couple of hours. When he realized what was going on, Jeonghan had tried to stop him, but it was to no avail. Everytime he tried to stop him, he would beat him. He would go as far as to find ways to get money and go and hide it from him, so that his mom and sister had stuffed saved up that he couldn’t touch. But he would get caught every time that he gave money to his mother, and he would be punished for it. And the older it got the worse the abuse got, and based on the way he acts sometimes Joshua can only infer that his father was more through than he lets on. It got to the point that he couldn’t take it anymore and left to come live with Seungcheol. And a couple years later he had met Joshua. And all three of them have been together ever since, more or less. 

“So, when you heard Cheollie get mad, it made you think of your dad and you freaked out?” Joshua questioned him. Jeonghan gave a nod back in reply. “Would this have anything to do with the nightmare that you had last night that you wouldn’t talk to us about?” Hesitantly, Jeonghan nodded his head again to the question. “I’ve just been out of it all day long and I don’t know why. And when Mingyu messed up and Cheollie was yelling at him I just got so mad at him, Mingyu couldn’t help it that he had tripped while they were trying to leave. And then when he told Woozi to blow up the building, with them still in it, I got so scared, I almost threw up on Channie, my anxiety was so bad.” Joshua leaned over and wrapped his arms around him, and Jeonghan leaned into his touch. And Joshua noted at how hot Jeonghan’s skin was to the touch, even though it was freezing outside and when he brought his hand up to feel his forehead, it felt warmer than normal. So to top all of this off he was sick too. Well, that explains the nightmare that he had last night, Jeonghan was pronned to them when he was sick. And his emotions were all over the place too, which is a side effect of it. Joshua huffed to himself, he felt like a real heal for not noticing this sooner, he felt like a terrible boyfriend for not realizing that Jeonghan was sick. Though he wouldn’t put it past Jeonghan to have faked being well to keep him and Seungcheol from worrying about him. That was a very Jeonghan thing to do. And now he’s to the point where he can’t handle it anymore. Normally when they get to that point it means that he’s really sick. 

“Ok, how long?” Joshua asked him. By the look that he got in return he could tell that Jeonghan had caught onto the fact that he’d been found out and was trying to lie to get out of it. He could tell because Jeonghan had a nervous tick, that was a major tell when it came to lying to him and Seungcheol(most of the time). Whenever Jeonghan would try to lie to them he would try to look them in the eyes and try his best to hold eye contact for as he could without breaking it. It has gotten to the point that when some of the other members believe that Jeonghan was lying, they would go to him or Seungcheol and ask them to see if what he was saying was true or not. By this point they all knew that Jeonghan had a terrible time trying to lie to his lovers without feeling an extreme level of guilt. And that’s what he was doing now. “How long what?” And that tone of voice, that was the voice that he tended to use a lot when he’s trying to work on a mark during a mission. Jeonghan had to ability to make his voice go super soft and sweet, thus changing his tone and making him sound like what Joshua would associate with a dumb blonde from an American movie. It always fooled the mark into believing that Jeonghan wasn’t that intelligent(even though he is in fact the most intelligent person in the group besides Wonwoo, and Jihoon) and it lead them into a false sense of security and that was when he would go in for the taking. “Don’t play dumb Hannie, especailly not when I know how high your IQ actually is and that it would probably give Wonwoo-ah a heart attack since it’s higher than his. You damn well what I’m talking about.” Joshua told him sternly. He watched Jeonghan sigh and his shoulders slump down in defeat, this was a sure sign that he’d won this argument. “I don’t know, I’ve been feeling a little run down for a couple of weeks now actually, ever since I saw my sister right before my mother’s birthday. Hana had told me that mom was asking her if I would come back and visit her for her birthday, and I had to tell her no. Ever since I’ve felt like complete and utter crap.” Jeonghan confessed sullenly. “I just thought that it was my guilty conscience or something, but it never went away, and I didn’t realize what it was until last night when I woke you and Cheollie up screaming from my nightmare.” Joshua leaned over and kissed him on the head and brought him closer to where Jeonghan’s head was resting in the crook of his neck. “And you didn’t want to say anything since it happened the day before a job and you knew that everyone was already stressed out to the max because of how big it was, so you just kept quiet and hoped for the best.” Joshua finished for him. Jeonghan shook his head into his shoulder and tried to get even closer to Joshua. “ I feel awful.” He mumbled into Joshua’s sweater. “I know you do.” 

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In the kitchen we find the fearless leader of Seventeen attempting to make something. What that something is, well we’re pretty sure that he’s wondering what it is he’s doing just as much as the next person it. It looks like he’s trying to make tea, but maybe something else. We’re not sure, but needless to say there’s a reason as to why he’s one of the members who are banned from using the kitchen. Though he is aloud to actually be in it as long as he’s not planning on making something. He’s not as bad as Hoshi or Vernon, but if left to his own devices then things can get a little bit rocky. Any way, the only reason that he’s in the kitchen in the first place is to try and find some way to apologize to Jeonghan and Joshua for the fight that they had earlier in the evening. He never meant to upset either one of his two lovers, and he never meant to upset Jeonghan so much. He never knew that their fight would escalate so bad. Though the moment that Seungcheol got a good look at Jeonghan’s eyes he knew that he had screwed up big time. In all of the years that he had known the other boy, he had only seen that look in his eyes 2 times before including now. The only other time being the night that he came and joined the group officially and had decided to move in with them. That look was something that Seungcheol never wanted to see on Jeonghan’s face ever again. Though he did in fact see it again tonight, and this time it was his fault that it was on there. 

To Seungcheol, Yoon Jeonghan was always a mystery to him, more of an enigma, a question that he just had to try and solve and yet he never could. When they first met back in their younger days when they were children that part of Jeonghan had drove him nearly mad. Chan used to love to make fun of and mock him endlessly about that. It never dawned on him until later what those feelings really were. When he first realized that he was in love with Jeonghan, was during one of their famous knock out drag out fights in the beginning of SEVENTEEN. Then that fight seemed like the most important thing in the world. Now, Seungcheol can bet you that neither one of them could tell you what it was about, well he can’t remember what it was about, though with his memory Jeonghan probably still does. The only thing that bothers to stick out in his mind to him about that night was while the two of them were getting in each other’s faces the only thing that he wanted to do was kiss Jeonghan senseless. He can remember thinking that Jeonghan looked so hot when he was pissed at him and how he wanted to do nothing more than just stand there and kiss his stupid face senseless for hours until both of their faces were completely numb. And then he remembers being scared, because that’s not something that you’re supposed to feel about someone that you view as your supposed best friend. It took him months to come to terms with the fact that the feelings that he was harboring for Jeonghan were more than just platonic. He spent many nights alone in the dark thinking about what he should do with his feelings. Though once the whole big mess that had become his relationship with him Jeonghan, and Joshua, Seungcheol had vowed to always make sure that the two of them were always happy and healthy and that he would do anything in the world to make sure that it always happened. It was a very long and hard drawn out process, but up until Seungcheol thought that he did a pretty good job at keeping his promise that he made all those years ago. He let his emotions get in the way of his judgement and that caused him to hurt two of the people that he loved the most. That was part of the reason that he was so determined to make it up to him. 

Hearing the tea kettle ring on the stove was what brought him out of his stupor. He shook himself out of his head and then went to pick up the pot off the stove. Once that was done he poured in the tea bags once he transferred the water into an actually tea pot. Whenever Joshua would get mad in general you could always find him drinking his weight in tea. Seungcheol didn’t know why and neither did Joshua it seems knew either, but it always manages to calm him down enough to be reasonable again. And Jeonghan who in times of stress and other emotional situations, tea was the only thing besides maybe some crackers that he could eat and keep down without throwing it back up. Tea is something that he can use as an apology to both of his lovers and hopefully it’ll get him back on their good sides. He really hoped that this would work since he had messed up so badly earlier. Now, the only problem is for him to get into the bedroom that the 3 of them currently share with each other. He knows for a fact that when both Joshua and Jeonghan get mad at him or each other and they go to retreat into their room they lock the door behind them. And that’s where his little brother Chan comes. A couple of years ago Chan had Vernon teach him how to pick a lock, Seungcheol knows how to pick one too, but Chan’s better at it and is more inclined to help him than Vernon of anyone of the other thieves. Since he knows that out of all 3 of them Vernon leans more towards Joshua than himself or Jeonghan. His plan is set and know all he has to do is go and execute it. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joshua didn’t know how long they were out there, but he could tell that it had been awhile. Even though he had made sure that both him and Jeonghan were somewhat covered in warm layers he was still freezing. And he knew that Jeonghan was too, even if he felt like he was set on fire with how hot his skin was from his fever that he was running, with how much he was shivering Joshua knew that it was more than a safe bet to say that he was freezing. He didn’t know if he could convince him to move or not since his head was still buried in his neck. But being the medical student and worried boyfriend that he was, he couldn’t let Jeonghan be out in this bitter cold any longer with how sick he was. He knew that Jeonghan hated the cold also. He basically refused to come out of the apartment in the winter, especially if it had snowed. And the only way to get him out, maybe, is if they got one of the kids to beg him to go play in the snow with them. And even then that was a stretch too. So, him sitting out in the cold for this long was a clear sign that he was sick and didn’t want to move because he felt so awful. His heart hurt for his boyfriend, he just wished that Jeonghan could be secure enough in himself so that he could feel comfortable enough to open up to them at least a little bit. 

Humming to himself, to try and help soothe Jeonghan, Joshua figured it would be a good time to try and get him in the house. “Hey Baby.” Joshua whispered in his ear. He kind of thought that Jeonghan had fallen asleep and that was why he didn’t want to go in at the moment. Though he was proven wrong when he got a groan in response. “Mmm.. What Shua,....” Jeonghan moaned out. “Do you want to go in now Hannie? It’s really cold out and you being sick it isn’t good for you to be out right now.” Joshua told him softly. It took a few minutes for him to respond but eventually Jeonghan was able to answer him. “Okay, m’tired Shua.., I don’n feel good.” He mumbled in response as he buried his nose in Joshua’s shirt. Joshua laughed to himself as he watched his boyfriend. “Ok Hannie, let’s go in then, the sooner we go in and get warmed up, the sooner you can go to sleep. How does that sound?” Joshua asked him as he kissed the top of his head. Jeonghan shook his head in response since he was so tired and the two of them proceeded to get up from their place on the fire escape and head inside to get warm. 

Upon entering their bedroom through the window the two of them were met with the sight of their other lover Seungcheol. He was in the room making up the bed with a lot of warm blankets and pillows. And Joshua had noticed that there was a pot of tea and some cookies and crackers resting on one of their bedside tables. Once Seungcheol had noticed that he was no longer alone in the room he paused his actions and just looked at the other two men in the room. The three of them just stood in the room and stared at each other for who knows how long. Though, the silence was finally broken by Jeonghan and in the most unconventional way possible. “I’m gonna throw up..” Jeonghan gasped as he slapped his hand over his mouth and ran into their bathroom located in their room. As he went to go throw up, he had two very concerned boyfriends hot on his heels the whole way there. Once he reached the bathroom, Jeonghan dropped down hard on his knees and lifted the toilet lid up with shaking hands and then proceeded to throw up everything he had eaten in the past day, though that wasn’t a whole lot since he had been fighting against constant waves of nausea all day, and hadn’t eaten a whole lot. So it was mostly just him dry-heaving until his body decided it was empty. While he was dealing with that Joshua was behind him rubbing soothing circles into his back while Seungcheol was trying to hold back his hair so that it wouldn’t get in the way. Once he was finished dry-heaving, Jeonghan collasped back against Joshua’s chest. He had moved them to where they were both leaning up against the wall, and they had Seungcheol circling around them not really knowing what to do. After a few minutes when they were all sure that Jeonghan wasn’t going to throw up on them again, Joshua took control of the situation. “Ok, Hannie do you feel well enough to be able to take a shower so we can both warm up and I can clean you up?” Joshua asked him in a hushed tone. Jeonghan shook his head yes in response. Joshua smiled sadly to himself at his lover’s reply. “Ok then, we’ll do that, and Cheollie can you finish setting up whatever it was that you were doing before we came in and maybe disinfect the bathroom some while we shower please?” He asked his other lover. “Sure, yeah I can do that.” Seungcheol told him. “Ok, then will you help me get him up so we can start?” Seungcheol nodded and moved so that both him and Joshua could get Jeonghan up and in the shower. Once that was done Seuncgcheol went about his tasks that Joshua had assigned to him and waited for his other two lovers to get out of the shower. It was going to be a long night. 

After the long process that was getting Jeonghan in and out of the shower without having him fall and crack his head open, Joshua was so glad to get him out. Jeonghan had spent the whole entire time slumped against him as he just let the hot water hit him as he tried to bathe him. It took awhile to get him dressed once he had gotten him out of the shower, because Jeonghan started to get dizzy. Joshua had to set him down on the toilet seat to put the clothes that Seungcheol must have left out for them on him. After drying his hair quickly with a towel, Joshua went to get Jeonghan up from the toilet seat lid that he had put him on to make sure that he wouldn’t pass out on him and go down. Joshua wrapped his arms around the other boy to help steady him and to try and warm him up some more. On the way out Jeonghan had attached himself yet again underneath his chin and wouldn’t move. When they finally made it out of the bathroom they were met with the site of Seungcheol running around the warm making sure that everything was set up and ready for them. The bed had been remade with a bunch of fluffy blankets and pillows. Along with the food and drink that was on the nightstand there was now also various cold and flu medications and painkillers. It looked like Seungcheol had gone and raided the stash that Seokmin and Seungkwan kept in there room for emergencies. Joshua would really have to complement him on this later once Jeonghan was tucked in and asleep. 

“Hey Hannie, feeling better?” Seungcheol asked as he made his way around the bed to help Jeonghan lay down so he could sleep. Jeonghan seemed to be very out of it, the key word here being seemed. As soon as Joshua was able to pry him out from underneath his chin and got him sat down on the bed was when he started to burst out into tears. He was crying so hard that he was shaking. “Hannie, shh, shh, baby what’s wrong?” Seungcheol asked as he sat down on the bed next to Jeonghan and wrapped his arms around him, Joshua not far behind him. “I-I-I.. I’m s-s-sor-ry,.. I d-didn’t mean to get-t ma-ad at you-u..” Jeonghan sobbed in Seungcheol’s chest. Both him and Joshua were shocked at Jeonghan’s apology. Now, don’t take this the wrong way but Jeonghan never apologized, well he did, but he was never the first one to. Believe it or not Jeonghan is a very shy and introverted person, and it is hard for him to work up the nerve to apologize first to someone because he never knows what to say. So to say that this was shocking was an understatement. “No, no Hannie, no baby I’m not mad at you at all, and neither is Josh ok?” Seungcheol told him as Joshua nodded his head in agreement and rubbed his back soothingly. “This whole thing was my fault ok? I should have realized that something wasn’t right with you, and I should have never yelled at Mingyu for messing up in the first place ok?” Seungcheol told him. “ And I never should have yelled at you when we got home ok, this wasn’t your fault and I’m not mad at you ok?” Jeonghan nodded his head into Seungcheol’s chest and Joshua continued to rub his back for him. After awhile Jeonghan had finally stopped crying and was just in his lover’s arms seeking warmth from them. “Do you feel any better now?” Joshua asked as he finally stopped rubbing Jeonghan’s back so that he wouldn’t fall asleep before he checks him out. Jeonghan weakly nodded his head as an answer. Both of his other lovers sigh to themselves as they started to maunover their boyfriend to a horizontal position so that they could better take care of him. When they got him settled Joshua went to go raid Dk and Seungkwan’s room where all of their medical supplies were kept. 

Once Joshua left the room, Seungcheol went to go lay down on their bed across from Jeonghan. From the look of it, being sick, their big fight, and his mini melt down, had left Jeonghan completely exhausted, as he was almost asleep by the time Joshua got back to their room. When he got on the bed, Seungcheol just looked at Jeonghan. Even though he was asleep and sick, and in most people’s standards looked like crap, in Seungcheol’s mind he looked beyond beautiful. Everyone else in the group liked to joke that both him and Joshua would tell Jeonghan that he looked beautiful even if all he wore were trash bags as clothes. Which is probably true since whatever he wears he makes work for him. Though that’s not the only reason that they tell him this. Not many of the other members know this, but Jeonghan is not only a very shy person, he is also very insecure in himself and suffers from anxiety. Majority of the time he thinks very lowly of himself and on more than one occasion in the past he has either told Joshua or Seungcheol that he hated himself and had told them that he thought that he was better off dead. It broke his heart to hear Jeonghan talk so lowly about himself, it pissed him off that his step-father had basically ruined his self-esteem and destroyed his ability to trust people whole-heartily. And on more than one occasion over the years him and Joshua had to make their own modified suicide watch. Jeonghan had never done anything, but there were times where they didn’t know what was going on in his mind, and they both thought that it was a possibility. After one particular bad episode Joshua had tried to get him to seek out counseling to see if that would help him some, Jeonghan had blown up at the idea of it- another idea that was beaten into him by his step-father was that any type of doctors were bad, which is kind of funny now that Seungcheol thinks about it, since they are both going out with a nursing student, and are living with two med students. Needless to say that discussion didn’t go over so well and no one really talked to anyone for days afterwards. Laying there right across from Jeonghan, all that Seungcheol could think about was how much he loved the man laying right before him, and how he would do anything to keep him and everyone else in this apartment safe from any harm or danger. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Is he asleep?” Joshua asked as he walked into the bedroom from where he went looking for medical supplies. “Yeah I think the stress of everything has finally worn him out enough that he just passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow.” Seungcheol said as Joshua sat on the other side of the bed so that he could try to examine his lover while he slept. “I’m really worried about him.”Seungcheol said as he moved to sit up to watch Joshua work. “I am too.” He hummed as he took out an ear thermometer to check Jeonghan’s temperature. Suddenly Joshua whistled to himself as he saw the reading. “What is it?” Seungcheol asked, you could hear the worry dripping from his voice. “It’s 101 F/38 C” Joshua told him. “That’s very high.” “Yes, it is, we’ll have to keep an eye on it tonight and if it doesn’t go down or goes up we’ll have to take him to the hospital.” Joshua told him in a whisper. Both of them knew how their third lover hated hospitals, they always increased his anxiety levels ten fold. They have never been able to get him to tell them why they do, whenever they breach the subject Jeonghan just shuts down on them. “I think that Hannie might be you know..”Seungcheol trailed off. “No Seungcheol, I don’t know what you mean.” Joshua replied shortly to him. “I’m sorry Cheollie I didn’t mean to get short with you, it’s just been a long day and I’m worried about everyone.” Joshua apologized. “You’re fine Shua, I’m stressed too, but I guess that I should have also been more clearer on what I was saying.” Seungcheol said as he moved his hand to brush against Joshua’s cheek. Said man mentioned went about his business of getting out everything that they’ll need to take care of their lover throughout the night. After waking Jeonghan up enough to get him to swallow down some pills and getting him back to sleep Joshua climbed in bed with the rest of his partners so that they could maybe get some sleep. “I think I figured out what you were trying to tell me earlier.” Joshua whispered to Seungcheol overtop of Jeonghan. “Yeah.” Seungcheol replied and Joshua could tell that he too was about half asleep. “You’re thinking that Hannie’s depressed and that he might be suicidal.” Joshua whispered out. There were a few moments of silence between them as Seungcheol processed what was just said to him. He knew that Jeonghan was showing all of the signs, it’s just that somebody saying it all out loud was making this all real and that wasn’t something that he particularly wanted to acknowledge just yet. “Yes, I do, I know that he probably won’t do anything that severe but it still worries me that he’ll fall back into bad habits.” Seungcheol confessed. Back when they were all just starting, and Jeonghan was still pretty new to the team, Seungcheol had accidently walked in on Jeonghan when he was changing and saw them. That was the day that he realized that Jeonghan was a cutter. He had tried to put a stop to that right away, but the recovery process was very long and drawn out. Things did get better once all three of them started their relationship and got out of the rocky stage, but they all still worry. Almost none of the other members in the group know because Jeonghan had begged them not to tell because he was scared of what they would think of him. They both swore they wouldn’t tell and to this day they haven’t. And even though he had relasped more than once, Jeonghan hasn’t cut in a little over two years. He was doing really good at the moment and now they’re not so sure. But as they both join their other lover in slumber that night, they hoped that everything would work out for them in the end. 

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Meanwhile, across the city……… 

There was a man watching security camera footage of events that had unfolded earlier in the night. He was studying it intensely and was paying close attention to the details of it all. “Han.” He barked out to one of his henchmen. “Yes sir Hyung-min.” The lackey said. “Find out all that you can about this group, they made a fool of me tonight, and no one can get away with making me a fool with paying the ultimate price.” He said and laughed minically afterwards. His lackey Han gulped nervously and nodded in response. “Yes Hyung-min.” And then walked off to do his master’s bidding. As his henchmen left the room, the master was just sitting there, thinking that the little group of what appeared to be children had no clue at all what was about to be coming their way. And that sent him into another fit of insane giggles. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this seems a little bit darker than most of my other works, but I just started writing and this is what happened. So sorry not sorry.  
> -N.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when Jeonghan is sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to put out. I've been busy. And don't worry I'm almost done with drafting out the next part or two or When Worlds Collide, I can't remember. And I have some new stuff that I want to put out too. And then I wonder why I can never get anything done. Anyway if I don't post again after this Merry Christmas everyone, and have a Happy Hanukkah too. Or whatever holiday you celebrate at this time.  
> -N.

Chapter 2 

Poor Seungcheol didn’t know how right he was when he said that it was going to be a long night. Between the three of them they must of gotten only about 1 hour of sleep each. Jeonghan had spent pretty much the whole night puking his guts out in the bathroom. Joshua and Seungcheol tried to take turns taking care of him in shifts since Joshua had classes the next morning and Seungcheol, Woozi and Hoshi had to meet with their next client that afternoon. Though neither would leave the other alone in case they needed help with Jeonghan. And poor Jeonghan had spent the whole entire night either throwing up and suffering from massive bouts of nausea or from strong waves of diaherra. Needless to say that he didn’t have a very pleasant night to say the least. Though he had finally passed out from exhaustion at around 5 AM, leaving Joshua and Seungcheol about 2 hours before one of them had to get up to start his day. So once Jeonghan was down for the count, the two of them flopped down onto the bed on either side of him and went to sleep. With how their luck was going they were going to need all of the sleep that they could get if they were planning on doing anything productive the next day. Finally after a long night of sickness finally all three of them could sleep. 

The sudden shrill noise of the alarm clock was what woke them up that morning. The sound was loud and peiricing and if Seungcheol didn’t turn that stupid thing off that he bought cheap at a yard sale 3 years ago and it woke Jeonghan up, he was going to kill him. As time went on the thing just kept going and it got to the point that Joshua couldn’t stand it anymore and lobbed one of his pillows at Seungcheol’s head. “Huh, what?” Seungcheol said kind of loudly. “Shh. You’re going to wake Hannie up, turn off your stupid alarm.” Joshua whispered shouted at him. His boyfriend shook his head and moved to turn off the alarm so as not to wake up their other lover. “Sorry.” He said as he finally got the alarm to turn off. Joshua sighed and moved to look at his phone that he had laid on the nightstand. His phone told him that it was about 7:15, he dropped back down onto the bed in exhaustion. He hadn’t had any sleep last night with how sick Jeonghan was, and he dreaded going to school today with what little energy that he has. 

“Hey.” Seungcheol called as he tried to get his attention. “Hmm.” Joshua answered him. “If you feel tired enough you can stay home from school and rest nobody will blame you for it.” “I know that nobody will blame me for it, but I do know for a fact that Hannie will feel gulity that I had to miss class because I was so tired from taking care of him.” He stated a matter of factly. And Seungcheol knew that he was right about that. If him and Joshua stayed home to rest Jeonghan would feel gulity, and if they went and left the apartment he would feel bad. It was a loose, loose, situation. So they had no choice but to just go on with their regular life and hoped that they got back before he woke up so they wouldn’t have to combat against another mental breakdown like they had last night.”What time do you have to be in class?” Seungcheol asked. “9:30, I just have a lecture and then shadowing at the hospital until 7.” Joshua told him. “What about you?” He asked as he began to move to get out of bed so that he could get ready for his day. “I just have the meeting with the client and then I guess me Jihoonie and Sooyoungie have to start planning out the job from there.” Seungcheol said as he rolled over to face Joshua and cuddled Jeonghan some more. Joshua hummed in agreement as he began to buzz around their bedroom to get ready. He vanished into the bathroom for about 15 minutes before coming back out dressed in his hospital scrubs. “Ok, well I’m gone, have a good day and I’ll see you two later and call me if he gets worse or anyone needs anything ok? I love you.” Joshua said as he leant down to place a chaste kiss on Seungcheol’s lips. He moved over and placed a soft one on Jeonghan’s forehead. “He’s still a bit warm.” Joshua commented in a worried tone. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on it throughout the day.” Seungcheol told him. “Now go, if you wait any longer you’re going to be late.” And with that Joshua disappeared out the door. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Once Joshua was able to will himself to leave the room he walked out into the kitchen. There he was greeted by the only other two members who should be awake at this hour. He was met with them and he was surprised to see Mingyu there as well, along with Wonwoo. “Good Morning.” Joshua greeted as he walked into the kitchen. “Morning Hyung!” They all chorused back in unison. “How’d you sleep last night Hyung?” Seokmin asked him as he sat down next to him at the island in the middle of the room. It was Mingyu’s favorite thing about the kitchen at this new place. When he saw it he about tackled Minghao to the floor screaming “Look Hao! We have so much more counter space now!” Minghao had just rolled his eyes at his best friend’s antics and told him to get off of him. Mingyu replied and then went to go tackle Hansol to tell him all about it next. Joshua smiled to himself at the fond memory of one of his many little brother figures. “Um, Hyung?” He heard Mingyu’s voice asked timidly. And that was what brought him out of his stupor that he was in from the lack of sleep. Mingyu in all of the time that he has ever known him, has never sounded so timid and quiet. “Yes, Gyu-ah, what it is, what’s wrong?” He questioned. “Oh, No! Hyung don’t worry nothing’s wrong with me, I’m ok. I was just checking on Jeonghan, he seemed really upset last night and I didn’t get the chance to ask before I went to bed.” Mingyu confessed to him. Well, that took a lot of stress and pressure off of Joshua’s shoulders since there wasn’t actually anything wrong that he would of had to fix before leaving. “Well, as you all know Hannie kind of had a hard time last night after you all got back from your job, he wasn’t really acting like himself.” Joshua told them all. “Did you and Seungcheol-Hyung figure out what was wrong and make up with him?” Seungkwan asked him. “Yes, we did Kwanie, as it turns out Hannie’s sick.” He was met with a whole collective gasp from the rest of them as response. For you see even though Jeonghan is one of the members with less stamina and he gets tired really easily, he doesn’t get sick like ever. A couple of years back Soonyoung had joked that it was because he slept so much that all of the germs found him to be such a pointless target for them to go after. That comment earned him a smack on the head from both Wonwoo and Jihoon. So, needless to say, when Jeonghan gets sick, he gets SICK. “Oh my gosh!” Seokmin said. And everyone could tell that by his tone that he was very worried about his Hyung. “Yes, I know that it’s surprising, and that you are all worried about him, but please for the sake of ours and everyone else’s sanity leave him alone.” Joshua had told them. He knew what would happen once he left for the day. When him, Seungkwan and Seokmin would leave the other 8 members that were left in the apartment that weren’t either sick or on sick duty would descend on them in their bedroom and not leave the two of them alone all day. Now don’t get him wrong, Joshua knew that all of his younger brothers loved their Hyungs, especially their Jeonghan-Hyung, but when he gets sick, Jeonghan is almost completely un-functionable. He can’t help it, that’s just how he is when he’s sick and he gets overwhelmed very easily, and having 8 frantic members circling him constantly would freak him out. So Joshua sort of had to lay down the ground rules for when he’s gone. 

“So does everybody understand the rules for today now?” Joshua asked the eight people that were now gathered around him. He got 8 heads shaking yes to him at once like a bunch of bobble-heads. “Ok then, well, Kwanie, and Seokminnie and I are gone now, and we won’t be back until about 5 or so, so behave and don’t drive the other two insane ok?” Joshua said as he and the other two med students grabbed their things and headed out the door. And Joshua couldn’t help but sigh and roll his eyes as he went out the door and closed it behind him. He gave them all about 10 minutes at the most before they all went and raided the little bedroom that they all shared and started fussing about Jeonghan and bugging Seungcheol about what all they could do to help. Now, again don’t get him wrong Joshua loved his make-shift family a lot, more than he could even imagine and more than even words could describe. But, sometimes he just really wanted to scream and bash his head into the walls. Oh well, at least he gets a couple of hours out of the house and away from all of the crazy. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The first thing that Jeonghan registered when he first opened his eyes, was how bright the sun was. With the sun shining so bright, in his eyes it took him a few moments to try and figure out where he was. He looked around to check out his surroundings, and to try and find someone to tell him where he is. Looking around, all that Jeonghan could see before him was water. It was everywhere, in all of the directions that he looked in he just saw was water. It seemed that he was in some sort of ocean maybe? He wasn’t really sure, but he was more confused on why he wasn’t wet even though he was in the ocean. Looking down Jeonghan could see wood underneath his feet. And taking the time to really look around again he could tell that he was on a boat. 

A boat? Why was he on a boat? The last thing that Jeonghan had remembered before falling asleep was talking with Joshua and Seungcheol after the mission. Everything after that was a big blur in his memories. For some reason it was really hard for him to think and piece together what is going through his head. Which is kind of bad for him because he’s never been this scattered brain before and it was kind of concerning him. He has always been one of the more sharper and more articulate ones of the group. Seungcheol has even said a couple of times that he is the smartest out of all 13 of them. He is the one who is always ready for a witty comeback, and has the ability to read people and can defuse a situation in a matter of minutes. This just wasn’t like him at all, he couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong with him. 

Trying to get back on track the next thing that he tried to do was find one of the other 12 men that he lived with. He looked all over the deck and the surrounding area, but he couldn’t find anybody that he knew or even reorganize. It was driving him crazy, he has never been alone for more than a couple of hours without one or more of them with him. It was starting to get his anxiety up a little bit. Something that isn’t very well known about him is that he doesn’t like to be left alone for long periods of time. For whenever he’s by himself Jeonghan thinks, he actually tends to think so much that he overwhelms himself that he can trigger an anxiety attack. That’s part of the reason that even when he says that he wants to be left alone, he never really tends to lock the door, and never tells anybody to leave when they come looking for him. Which does tend to make some of the other members mad, because even though he lets them in the room, he never talks to them about what is troubling him. And yes, he knows that he should open up more, but that’s very hard for him to do. He’s always had this problem. Growing up with his step-father whenever he would go to ho+im for help of to seek advice he’d always tell him to leave and not to come back to bother him with “sissy little problems.” And his step-father had made it impossible for him to talk to his mother. And he couldn’t go to his little sister for help. Hana was too young to handle the burden of all of his problems. He couldn’t do that to such a little girl. 

After who knows how long he was just sitting out there by himself, Jeonghan was beginning to lose his mind. He’s never been alone this long without one of his members. He could tell that his anxiety was spiking up to a very high level. He couldn’t handle this anymore! Jeonghan could feel his chest tighten and that it was getting harder for him to breathe. And that was when he was finally able to realize how rocky the motions of the boat he was on was. Another thing about Jeonghan is that he gets terribly motion sick. And that it’s real easy to set him off, also. Both him and Seungcheol are very prone to motion sickness, and they have the weakest stomachs out of all of the 13 of them to prove it. All the times that Chan had convinced them to go on a roller coaster with him and Sammy back in their earlier days was another source of proof. Regardless of how much they did or didn’t eat before going on they both would always come off of the ride and run straight to the nearest trash can so that they could lose all of the food in their stomachs. While Channie, Joshua, and all of the rest of the kids would laugh at them in the background while they got sick. So, needless to say that sticking him on a rocky boat in the middle of the ocean was certainly not a very good idea. And he was going to kill whoever’s bright idea it was to do this to him. 

Jeonghan still continued to try and look for the rest of the members, all the while his stomach kept rolling and rolling, and he grew more nauseous as time went on. It got to the point that he just had to sit down on the boat’s deck to try and combat the nausea as best as he could. He laid down on his back on the deck and tried to breathe in and out through his nose. Nothing was working for him, regardless of what he tried, he just kept getting more nauseous, and nauseous. It was getting to the point that he couldn’t take it anymore. And the worse part of it all was that he still couldn’t find any of his members. Who he wanted the most were Joshua and Seungcheol. He wanted to have his boyfriends by his sides so bad that he could tell that he was starting to tear up. He was in full blown panic mode at this point, and he didn’t know what to do. He just wanted to stop feeling so bad and he wanted his boyfriends there to cuddle him until he felt better. 

His head was spinning so bad at this point, he didn’t even really know where he was at this point. Everything around him now was just a muddled up mess of his thoughts and sounds. Everything was just so loud, and bright. He didn’t know what was going on with him anymore. The panic was beginning to become overwhelming at this point. And the nausea, it was starting to become so unbearable that he felt like he was going to lose everything in his stomach at this point, and he probably wouldn’t care at this point. He just really wanted to feel the warmth of Seunghceol’s arms around his waist, and left the heat seep in from his chest into his back. The man was like a human furnance, he’s so warm. And he wanted to lay pracitcally on top of Joshua and tuck his head into the crook of his neck and have him rub his arms and stomach while they all cuddled until they fell asleep. That was the perfect life for Jeonghan and he was so distraught that everyone had probably left him at this point since he couldn’t find anyone anywhere. 

He knew that deep down inside him somewhere that they would all leave him eventually. Jeonghan knew that he wasn’t destined for a good life. He had figured that out when he was a very small child. Like his step-father would say, he was a pest, a nussiance. He used to tell Jeonghan that nobody wanted to be around him because he was so whinny, and needy. The man used to berate him for the way that he lived, and how he was never going to make something of himself because of it. While he was thinking the nauseous feeling was just increasing as he went. And to make matters worse his father used to tell him how much of a slut and a whore he was. Whore? He was so sick to his stomach now, the feeling of having to vomit was really strong. Slut? God, he was so sick to his stomach now that it wasn’t funny anymore. HE was the SLUT, he wasn’t the one who, who… He wasn’ t the one who,..... God he was going to vomit. “Jeonghan.” He was going to vomit. “Hannie.” He was so nauseous, and why was the boat rocking so much. “Han, baby.” He was going to vomit and there was no stopping it. “JEONGHAN!”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“JEONGHAN!” His eyes snapped out at the loud shout of his name. And he shot up out of the bed and tumbled to the floor. In his haste to try and get himself off of the floor, he had forgotten the fact that he was about to throw up. And all of a sudden he felt a hand on his back, the surprise made him jump and start to gag. “Hey, hey, baby, it’s ok.” Seungcheol whispered as he rubbed his boyfriend’s back, and moved their trash can underneath him. It’s a good thing that he grabbed that though since as soon as he touched him Jeonghan started to vomit. “Shhh… It’s ok baby, it’s ok, I’m here you ok.” Seungcheol whispered into his ear as he tried to soothe him. The two spent the next couple of minutes on their bedroom floor while Jeonghan was vomiting into a trash can that they kept by their bed. And the whole time Seungcheol was there comforting him as he puked. It took what felt like forever before Jeonghan had stopped puking his guts up and moved on to dry-heaving. He did that for about 5 minutes before he was finally empty. He gave one last huff and fell back against Seungcheol’s chest exhausted. 

“Do you think you’re empty now baby?” Seungcheol asked Jeonghan as he rubbed his back to offer him some comfort. He could tell that by the way Jeonghan was still huffing out air, trying to catch his breath, he was either exhausted or was going to be sick on him again. He really hoped that it would be the first one. And he might of slightly angled themselves more towards the trash can, just in case. The two of them just sat on the floor, with Seungcheol leaned against the bed to let Jeonghan recline against him. “I feel like shit.” Jeonghan had mumbled out into Seunghceol’s shirt. Seungcheol hummed in agreement. “I know that you probably do feel bad Hannie, anything that I can do for you?” Seungcheol asked him. Jeonghan just huffed in response. “Yeah, will you just shoot me and put me out of my misery, since I’m sure that I look like crap at the moment.” Seungcheol lightly smacked him on the shoulder for that comment. “Don’t talk about yourself like that Han, you’re not ugly.” Seungcheol told him. “You’re still one of the most beautiful people in the world to me, besides Shua of course.” Jeonghan hummed and tucked his head underneath his boyfriend’s chin. 

“Don’t try and hide from me Angel, you know that plan doesn’t work on me anymore right? I’ve known you too long.” Jeonghan mumbled something that Seungcheol couldn’t quite make out, but he wouldn’t put it past his lover to have an asortment of colorful language included in what he just said to him. “Now come on babe, don’t get like that with me, you know that I could have just left to your own devices just a couple of minutes ago right?” Seungcheol smiled and chuckled to himself as Jeonghan then procceded to beat him on the chest. “I know, I know, I’m sorry.” Seungcheol apologized and kissed him on the top of his head. “You should be, meanie.” Jeonghan huffed as he tried to cuddle deeper into Seungcheol’s chest. “I love you.” Jeonghan whispered to him. Seungcheol smiled and leant down to kiss Jeonghan on the crown of his head. “I know I love you too Angel.” Seungcheol didn’t miss it as Jeonghan had clung onto him tighter. “I don’t tell it to you enough though.” Jeonghan whispered. From the tone of his voice Seungcheol knew where his train of thought was going with this. “Hey, none of that ok? I love you, Shua loves you, and so does everybody else ok?” Seungcheol said as he gripped Jeonghan’s chin to make him look at him. “NO more of this crap okay?” Jeonghan nodded to him and leant into his chest to cry. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

With nothing left for him to do once he had gone around and had disinfected the whole entire dorm of germs like Mingyu had told him too while he went to get groceries, Chan was bored. He didn’t realize it until now that without his Jeonghan-Hyung there to help keep everyone on their toes during their day to day lives. And since after Joshua’s lecture on how they weren’t allowed to bother Jeonghan any, the 96 liners had taken it upon themselves to divide them up to keep their promise that they had made to their Hyung. Woozi, Hoshi, and Wonwoo were locked up in Woozi’s office to plan out for when they meet their next potential client in a couple of hours. So that left Chan as being the only one home who wasn’t somehow busy. Which didn’t last long because Wonwoo had received a text from Mingyu to have Chan clean and disinfect the dorm so they could try and prevent the rest of the house from getting sick too. Which Chan had hated, he would rather be asleep or playing video games with Hansol than clean the dorm. Though he knew that if he didn’t then he’d get yelled at by the Hyungs, so he went and did it anyway. 

About 15 minutes after he had finished cleaning, Chan couldn’t take it anymore. The dorm was too silent and quiet for his liking. He was so used to their being a random yell or screaming every 5 minutes, and then one of the 3 parents would yell and settle whatever was happening. He missed everyone cuddled up on the couch arguing with each other over what movie to watch or video game to play. And even though he hates to admit it, he even missed Jeonghan and how he especially treats him like a baby. Things weren’t normal when one of them were out of commission. It just shifted everything to a slightly off position. And Chan didn’t like it at all one bit, he liked things the way that they had turned out for everyone. But, you can’t control what happens in the world very much can you? And that was the part that sucked the most to him. Oh, well, that’s just how life goes doesn’t it? 

Sitting by himself on the couch in the middle of the living room, he was a little bit surprised when he the door to one of the bedrooms open up down the hall. He turned his head from his position on the couch to see who it was and was taken aback some that it was his older coming down the hallway from the room that he shared with Jeonghan and Joshua. He was carrying a little waist basket in his hands, and he seemed to be holding it at arm’s length. And once the smell had hit him he knew why. “I know it smells absolutely awful Channie, that’s why I am disposing of it now.” Seungcheol said as he walked into the room. “Gee, that’s very smart of you Hyung, it’s not like I could have figured that out for myself.” He retorted. Seungcheol just laughed as he went into their storage closet to get more trash bags so he could clean up the mess, and for future needs. “Is Hyung feeling any better?” Chan asked, and in that moment his older brother took a moment to pause and look at his little brother. Normally, Chan isn’t one who’s big on touching and skinship, he prefers to just sit there and watch stuff go on then rather be included in it. Though whenever something bad happens to someone that he loves he lets his walls down enough to let people in. It’s been awhile since he’s seen him do that, and it reminds him that his brother isn’t a kid anymore. 

“Hyung?” Chan questioned again. On his trip down memory lane he had unintentionally zoned out on his brother. “Oh, yes, sorry Channie, spaced out their for a minute.” Seungcheol chuckled to himself. “Hannie isn’t doing too hot, but I think he’s doing better than he was last night. He seems less tense and I think that the nausea has relented enough for him to sleep.” Seungcheol told him. “I even got him to eat a few crackers and drink some water so that he could take some medicine.” Chan nodded in agreement as he listened to his brother. “Is Hyung going to be ok?” Chan asked tentatively. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine and back to his old self in no time.” Seungcheol said as he set down the items that he has collected from the closet and walked over to his brother. He moved to sit down by him on the couch and wrapped him up in a hug. “If you’re so worried about why don’t you go and check in on with, regardless of rather he’s asleep yet or not he’ll be glad to see his baby.” Seungcheol whispered to him. Chan hummed in response. “I don’t know Shua-Hyung made it clear this morning before he left to leave both you and Jeonghan alone and keep out of the bedroom so that he could sleep.” Chan told him. His older brother was silent for a few moments, until Chan saw a smile breakout across his face. “Now, don’t you worry about Shua or any of the others ok? Let me deal with them alright, you go and see Jeonghan he misses his ‘baby’.” Seungcheol said with a laugh as his little brother smacked him on the chest. “Yah! Respect your elders you brat!” Seungcheol said, “You’re lucky I don’t change my mind and make you clean out the vomit trash can.” He threatened as he saw his little brother take off towards the bedroom. The leader smiled to himself as he went back to his task of cleaning out puke. Man did he love his family. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Walking back to the bedroom that the 95 line shares, Chan made sure to keep his steps light and quiet as not to disturb his Hyung if he were asleep. And since he didn’t hear any noise coming from the room he figured that it would be a safe bet to guess that he was in fact asleep. He slowly crept into the threshold of the room and stuck his head in. His brother had left the door ajar when he left so it was easy to get into the room. From what he could see, it appeared to him that Jeonghan was fast asleep in the middle of the bed that he shared with Joshua, and Seungcheol. He just stopped where he was in the doorway, staring at his Hyung. If he was in fact asleep like he seemed, he didn’t want to disturb him any. With how sick his Hyung was he needed all of the sleep that he could possibly get. He was so caught up in an eternal debate about rather he should leave or not that he didn’t realize that he had been caught in his little endeavors. 

“Do you need something Channie?” Jeonghan asked in a very deep, and raspy voice. Once Chan got over the shock of being caught, he was surprised at how wreck his Hyung’s voice sounded. His attention then turned to the bed to where his Hyung was still laying in covered up with blankets. “Uhhh….” Chan said as a response. Even though he was as sick as a dog, and looked really bad appearance wise, which is really hard to do because his Hyung can look good in anything. “Well.” Jeonghan croaked out. From the way that he had moved himself to be somewhat elevated on the bed, Chan could tell that he was waiting on him. “I-I wanted to come check and see if you were ok Hyung.” Chan mumbled out as he looked down at his feet. He was a little bit embarrassed to be caught checking up on him since he’s known for not being a very touchy-feely person. “Aww, my baby really does love me.” Jeonghan joked, as he watched Chan blush. He stood there at the opening of the room for a couple of minutes before Jeonghan spoke up again. “Well, are you coming in or not?” He asked in a slightly bored tone. Chan perked up a little bit at that comment and moved to climb into bed with his ill Hyung. Jeonghan had moved the covers over to allow Chan to crawl underneath them with him. It only took a few moments for them to get settled enough in the bed and get comfortable enough to cuddle. 

Once they were in the usual position that they use when Jeonghan either forces or tricks Chan into cuddling with him, they just enjoyed the peace and quiet of it all. “Are you feeling any better at all Hyung?” Chan asked as he leaned into rest on his Hyung’s chest. Jeonghan was currently running his fingers through his little brother figure’s hair. Chan looked up at him to try and gauge his reaction. His Hyung looked tired, he looked more than tired, he looked absolutely exhausted, his skin was very pale and he had large, noticable dark circles underneath his eyes. His exhaustion was also made known to him with how his hair was up in a very messy, messy bun, that looked like it was trying to fall down. Overall, he looked horrible, and sick and Chan was very worried about him. “I feel somewhat better than I did last night, but I still feel sick.” Jeonghan told him. Though with how pale he was, Chan could tell that he wasn’t telling him everything. So, he gave him a look in return. Jeonghan sighed and rolled his eyes, but he did eventually give in. “Alright, I’ve had a migraine since yesterday, I still feel very nauseous, and my stomachs’ in knots and I’m just so tired.” Jeonghan sighed. “I’m sorry Hyung.” Chan told him softly. Jeonghan brushed a piece of Chan’s hair behind his ear, and smiled a little “Don’t worry about it Channie, it’s not your fault that I’m sick.” Jeonghan told him. “I know that Hyung, but I still feel bad that you’re sick.” He told him. The two of them laid in bed for a little while longer before it was interrupted with a groan. “Hyung, are you ok?” Chan asked him, with worry evident in his voice. “I’m fine, just some stomach cramps.” Jeonghan told him. “Do you need anything?” He shook his head. “No, I’m fine Channie, just tired; why don’t we take a nap?” He suggested. Chan smiled and snuggled deeper into his Hyung. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Meanwhile, at the hospital Joshua slumped down into his chair in the break room. “Hmmm.” He groaned as he plunked his head down on the table. “Everything alright there Joshua-ah?” A female voice spoke up from the other side of the room. His head shot up from his current position when he heard the voice. He was completely shocked to see who it was. “Yongsun-Noona! What are you doing here?” Joshua asked. He was a little surprised to see her here. Kim Yongsun, or “Solar” as she was nicknamed by her co-workers is a P.A. at the hospital who works mainly with the children. Solar was everyone’s friend, never met a stranger she couldn’t befriend and was like a mother to everyone. And she especially took a liking to Joshua when he first started working at the hospital. She just laughed at how scared he seemed that she came to see him. “Oh, I’m so terribly sorry, is it a crime for me to come and check on one of my daesangs when he looks worn out.” She teased him. “No, it’s not Noona and I also know that you’re not sorry one bit that you scared me.” Joshua told her. She laughed again at him as she moved to sit down next to him at the table. Joshua smiled to himself as she did. He liked Solar and her girlfriend and their younger friends. Solar’s girlfriend Moonbyul worked as an ultrasound tech for the OBGYN department. And her little sister Wheein and her girlfriend who are both also the same age as him Seungcheol and Jeonghan. Wheein is a nurse in training just like him, and her girlfriend Hyejin works in the registration department. He’s really come to like them and enjoy them as his work friends. 

“So, what seems to be troubling you this time Josh?” She asked him. And he knew that he had to tell her something, he could never lie to her she’s too smart for that. No, she doesn’t know about what his family does, he hasn’t told her and he isn’t planning on it, but he always tells her something. “It’s nothing devastating, Hannie’s sick and he was up all night throwing up.” Joshua told her as he rested his head on his arms. He felt Solar’s hand on his back as she was trying to comfort him. “I’m sorry to hear that kid, and I’m sure that when you tried to convince him to let you stay to help take care of him, he bit your head off right.” She said. Joshua hummed in agreement. “Yeah, and Seungcheol has to go to work today at some point too, and when he tried to call in he got even madder.” Joshua told him. His story is that Seungcheol works a bunch of odd jobs because that’s what he had to do, to take care of himself and Chan when they were children. And that Jeonghan works from home, and for the longest time he was the one who looked after Chan when he was still in school. “Oh, I know what that’s like somewhat, Wheein used be like that when we were younger.” Solar told him. “Did anything else happen though?’ She questioned. Another thing about Solar is that she knows kind of intimate details of his, Seungcheol’s and Jeonghan’s relationship. She knows how hard both of his partners had growing up. She also knew about Jeonghan’s varrying mental condition. Joshua lifted his head up from the table and just looked at her. He knew that she knew. 

“Where do I start with this?” Joshua mused to himself. Solar just looked at him. “Well, the night before last Hannie had a nightmare that messed with him.Then last night him and Cheollie got into a fight over something, I can’t remember what, and he just broke down on us and then we realized that he was sick, and you know the rest.” Joshua told him. “Do you know what his nightmare was about?” Solar questioned him. She was also one of the only people that he would go to at the beginning of their relationship to tell his concerns about Jeonghan and his poor mental state at the start. He was really worried at one point ath Jeonghan might do something drastic to harm himself, and he needed someone to talk to that wasn’t biased. So, he turned to Solar. Joshua shook his head and said that Jeonghan hadn’t said anything, just cried himself back to sleep. “Do you think that he needs to see Juhyun again?” Solar questioned him.One of their other friends and coworkers was Bae Juhyun or Irene as she is nicknamed. She’s a therapist at the hospital and she used to see Jeonghan for counseling session when they first started dating. It took a long time, but she was someone that he could open up to and discuss things about his mind that he just couldn’t yet when they first began dating. He hasn’t seen her in over a year now, but Joshua thought that he was in a better place now. Well, guess he was wrong about that now then. 

“I don’t know what to do Noona.” Joshua confessed to her. He was sort of at a loss at this point now. He knew that no matter what he did Jeonghan wouldn’t open up to anyone willingly unless he had a complete breakdown like he did a couple of years ago. That was a dark time for everyone of the members. No one had an easy time handling how much their Hyung was suffering. Jeonghan was just numb during this time, Joshua had never seen his lover like that before. He was just so out of it that no one not even himself or Seungcheol could snap him out of it. Most of the time he would just lay in bed all day underneath the blankets. He had looked so lost and miserable that it just broke his heart into little pieces. And that’s when Joshua got the idea to come and talk to Solar to see if there was any advice that she could offer them on what to do with the situation. He was broken out of his stupor when Solar patted him on the back. “Don’t fret too much over this Shua, you’re smart enough to figure something out, and you’ll do it because you love Jeonghan and Seungcheol and they both love you so much.” Solar told him with a smile. Joshua smiled back at the young woman who has come to know as a good and trustworthy friend. “You’re right Solar-Noona,” Joshua told her. “But there’s just one small problem, it’s hard to think of something to fix this when the person you’re trying to help is even smarter than anyone realizes.” It’s true what most people didn’t know was that out of all 13 of them Jeonghan is the smartest, and it’s not just because he’s good at manipulating people to get what he wants. When they were in high school and had to take an aptitude test, Jeonghan had scored the highest in his class. And the only reason that they ever found that out was that Sammy had accidentlly found the paper when he was helping Mingyu clean the dorm one day. 

The two continued their conversation for about 15 more minutes before they were interrupted. “Hey Solar-Unnie, I’ve been looking for you everywhere babe, oh Hi Shua! What are you doing here?” Moonbyul asked as she walked into the room. The two broke away from their conversation to greet the other woman who had joined them . “Hi Moonbyul-Noona, it’s good to see you, I’ve just been talking to Solar-Noona.” Joshua told her as she went to go and sit down on his other side. “Is this about your love life again, and let me guess a certain stubborn long haired one?” She said with a smirk. Joshua blushed and nodded his head. “Well what happened this time Shua?” She asked him. Moonbyul was also one of the people that he tends to confine in when things get a little bit crazy at home and he just wants to vent a little. “It’s nothing serious Noona, Hannie just sick, like really sick.” Joshua told her. “And let me guess, he knew that you had to go in today and when you tired to stay home he threatened to kick you on your head.” Moonbyul guessed. Joshua laughed at her and shook his head. “Yeah, something like that Noona, he’s so stubborn I don’t know what to do about him.” He confessed. Both of the women shared a knowing look with one another before they both moved to wrap up their dongsang in their arms for a group hug. “Don’t worry Joshua, everything will work out in the end.” Solar whispered to him. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Walking up to the door, Seungcheol knew that it would be in his best option to knock first before entering. “Who is it?” Woozi asked as he heard someone knock on the door to his office that he shared with Wonwoo. “It’s me Jihoon.” Seungcheol said. “Are you ready yet, it’s almost time to go meet the client.” Woozi perked up at that, he was just working on some last minute preperation before they went to go meet this knew client. It was always his thing to make sure that they knew everything about their clients before going in to make sure that they don’t end up being screwed over. That had almost happened once in the beginning and he swore after that debacle that nothing like that would ever happen to them again. Sighing as he looked at the time that was displayed on his computer, Woozi gathered up his things and headed out of the room. When he opened up the door he was met with his leader leaning up against the wall staring at his bedroom door. “You do know that you can stay back this time to take care of him yeah? You know me and Hoshi won’t mind.” Woozi said as he walked up to Seungcheol. He watched his leader sigh and break his gaze away from the bedroom door to his dongsang before him. “Yeah right, when I tried to tell him that I wasn’t going to go earlier and stay to take care of him I got yelled at.” Seungcheol said. Jihoon shook his head, he loved his Jeonghan, he really did, but the man was too stubborn for his own good. He hadn’t seen him since last night either, but what he saw of him wasn’t good. He looked, tired, pale, and extremely sick. He felt really bad for his Hyung and just wanted him to feel better. “Alright then, do you know what happened to Hoshi?” Woozi asked as they moved down the hallway. “No clue.” Seungcheol replied. Woozi sighed and rolled his eyes, of course, his best friend picks now to vanish on him. 

As it turns out, Hoshi actually hadn’t disappeared on them like he thought that he did.They had found him in the living room with Jun, Wonwoo, and the rest of the kids that were there but Chan. He was telling them to be on their best behavior while they were gone and that they shouldn’t bother Jeonghan-Hyung and just let him rest. And not to get into a fight with one another which was directed as Minghao and Mingyu. The two looked very offended but kept their mouths shut when Soonyoung gave them the ‘Look.’ Since technically the two of them would be in charge of the house until either they or Joshua got back. Since Jeonghan was out of commission, Soonyoung, Woozi, and Hoshi were going to meet the client, Jun was going to wait outside the location as their backup, and Wonwoo was going to be monitoring everything from the office over their comms. Which just leaves Mingyu and Minghao as the only people left responsible enough to watch the place. Hopefully, they wouldn’t get in a fight and burn the place down, hopefully. Though before they left Seungcheol put on his leader hat, and explicitly told them all to be on their best behavior, he told them that Chan and Jeonghan were asleep in their bedroom, and not to wake them up. He also told them that Jeonghan was in a bad mood still from an argument that they had earlier and not to disturb him, or he will come out and end whatever it is that they were doing and it wouldn’t be pretty. The two just sat there on the couch looking scared out of their minds just a little bit, since it’s very rare that you see Jeonghan get mad enough to go off at Seungcheol. So they would probably be on their best behavior, maybe. 

Anyway, Woozi couldn’t wait for this meeting to be over with already, it was taking too long in his opinion. Their client was a young woman who seemed to be in her mid to late 20s. She was the granddaughter of one of the big pharmaceutical corporations in Seoul. She came to them with some documents that she had found by mistake that showed that her grandfather was planning on releasing an old drug onto the market under a new name. Now, that didn’t sound to bad at first, but there was more to it than meets the eye. Her problem with this was that the drug was very harmful to people in the past, and had caused many people to die of kidney and liver failure. What they were doing was very wrong and immoral, and she was begging them to help her stop her grandfather from killing all of the people who would be taking the drugs. And the worse part was that the medication was for people who had anxiety and dealt with mental illness. That’s what got Seungcheol on board with it. And Woozi could guess what was going on in his head at the moment. He was most likely thinking that one of those people that could die from this if he succeded could be or could have been Jeonghan. And Woozi himself was a little bit worried about him too, since everyone on the team knew that Jeonghan was on medication for his anxiety. He knew that this would be one of the ones that Jeonghan will be on board for with every part of the planning once he’s feeling better. Man Woozi kind of feels sorry for the guy they’re going after. Jeonghan might look sweet and innocent but he’s a real hellfire when you piss him off enough. 

“Don’t worry Ms. Kang.” Seungcheol said in his perfect leader voice. “We’ll make sure that this new drug won’t leave the warehouse and that your grandfather is stopped.” Ms. Kang shook her head and leaned over the table of the resturant that they were in to hug all three of them in thanks. “Thank you so much Mr. Choi.” She said once she sat back down in her seat. “It’s no trouble at all Ma’am and please call me S. Coups.” He said. She just smiled brightly at them all and shook her head in understanding. She seemed thrilled that she had found someone who could help her with her case. “Thank you so much! I don’t know how I could ever repay you for helping me.” She told them as she reached out to grab Seungcheol’s hands. It seemed that she had sort of a thing for their leader. That wouldn’t go over well with Jeonghan and Joshua once they found out, Woozi mused to himself. He glanced across the table to look at Soonyoung and he seemed to be thinking the same thing that he was. “Oh, uh, that’s not nessecary Ms. Kang, just making sure that no one will get hurt from this is thanks enough for all of us.” Seungcheol said as he tried to defuse the situation. “Ok, thank you so much though, and don’t worry your pay will be in your account before this time tomorrow.” She told them as she was leaving since she had an appointment that she couldn’t miss. “Thank you again.” She called as she left the table. 

“Well, that just happened.” Soonyoung said as the client left. Seungcheol just gave him a look and slumped back into his chair. He groaned and covered his face with his hands. “Hannie, and Shua are so going to kill me.” He said. Woozi patted him on the arm and smiled to himself. Their was in fact a very, very dead duck. “It could be worse,” Soonyoung told him. “How?” Seungcheol asked him. “”Well, Shua- Hyung and Hannie-Hyung could have been here when she was flirting with you.” He said. Woozi rolled his eyes, as Seungcheol went and smacked Hoshi on the back of the head. “Quit being stupid Soonyoung.” He told him. His best friend shrieked out something about what did he ever do to them as the trio began trying to figure out their move. “I’m just going to put out the elephant in the room.” Woozi said as he pulled out his laptop to try and do some more research on their next target. He waited a few minutes before he looked up from his screen to gauge the other two’s reactions. “And what would the elephant be Jihoonie?” Seungcheol asked him. “Well just the fact that this good for nothing bastard of a CEO is trying to target people like Jeonghan and he doesn’t even care that if what he selling them will help them or kill them.” Jihoon said. And he wasn’t wrong, that was what was going through all of their heads and that they were all worried about Jeonghan. When he was first put on medication he was so scared about taking it because he was scared of the side effects. It took Joshua and Seungcheol weeks to convince him that taking them was ok and he wouldn’t be hurt by them. And that if the side effects didn’t help or make him feel weird then they’d take him off of it and put him on something else to see if that would work for him. So this case hits a little bit too close to home. And the fact that once Jeonghan found out the exact details of the mission he would lose it. And it took a lot for him to blow up and lose his cool and sucomb to his temper. “Well we better get started on this plan.” Woozi said as he went back to work. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The one thing that Mingyu did not expect when he and Minghao came back up from the laundry room that was in the basement of their building was to see Jeonghan on the couch with Chan and Hansol. “Hyung! What are you doing here?!” He asked as he and Minghao sat down their laundry baskets on their little kitchen table. Jeonghan who appeared to be half-asleep looked at them like they had grown two heads and shushed them. “What?” Hao asked, confused. Jeonghan huffed and rolled his eyes. “I said shush, Hansol and Channie are asleep and I don’t want you two idoits waking them up with all of the noise that you’re making.” Jeonghan told them. Paying closer attention to the scene before them now that could now see that their two youngest were fast asleep on top of Jeonghan. It looked very cute, and Mingyu would have gone and taken a picture of the 3 of them if he wasn’t scared of Jeonghan killing him for it. He sighed and looked at his fellow 97 liner for help in this situation. He knew that if the rest of the Hyungs came home and found that Jeonghan had gotten out of bed on their watch they were dead meat. But, at the same time since Jeonghan was awake and up and about from bed that meant that he would put up a fight when they tried to get him to go back to bed. 

Mingyu just looked at his Hyung before he sighed and pulled Minghao into their kitchen for a discussion. “What do we do Haohao?” Mingyu asked him. “What do you mean what do we do?” He countered back. “I mean, we’re dead if the rest of Hyungs come back and find Jeonghan-Hyung out of bed after we were the two who were put in charge.” Mingyu pointed out to him. The8 sighed and rolled his eyes at his friend. “Well, then I guess that we’re going to have to figure out a way to get him back to bed before everyone gets home.” He said. Mingyu went silent for a minute trying to figure out what to do, when it dawned on him. “I got it!” He said to Minghao before going back out into the living room. “Do I want to know what it is that you’re going to do?” Minghao asked as he trailed after his friend. Mingyu turned his head back around to look at his friend and just smiled at him. Minghao sighed, he had a feeling that this wasn’t going to end well for them. 

Coming back out into their living room they found that Hansol and Vernon were now awake and were still cuddling Jeonghan on the couch. “Hey Hyung.” Hansol greeted as he saw Mingyu walk into the room. “Hi Vernon, hi Channie.” He greeted as he sat down in front of the couch and on the floor. “Hi Hyung.” Chan said as he snuggled closer to Jeonghan. Minghao himself though stayed in the doorway from the kitchen to the living room just observing them. He had a feeling at what Mingyu’s plan was for them. And for it to work he had to stay out of the room for the moment. And Jeonghan was just sitting on the couch leaning up against Chan and he looked deathly pale, tired and a little green. “Are you tired Hyung, maybe you should go back to bed and rest some then.” Mingyu suggest, as straight forward as always. Jeonghan laughed at that and rolled his eyes. “Nice try Gyu-ah but that’s not going to work, I’m tired of lying in bed all day.” Jeonghan told him. Though, from what he could gather Mingyu wasn’t the only one who noticed that Jeonghan was turning a bit greener as their conversation went on. 

After about 15 more minutes of the deadlock between Jeonghan and Mingyu, Minghao finally figured out what his plan was. He was arguing with Jeonghan until he got sick enough that he had to go back to bed. Though it was smart, Minghao had to give him some credit for that, but once Jeonghan figures out what he’s doing he’s going to murder him. In the middle of Mingyu trying to get Hansol and Chan’s opinions on what they wanted to eat for dinner, Jeonghan had just lost all of the color out of his face and it was replaced with a green tint. He popped up from the couch and raced off to the bathroom in his room. He took off so fast that he thought that Hansol was going to get whiplash from trying to track his movements. “Ok Hao, it’s your turn.” Mingyu said as he got up off of the floor and headed past him into the kitchen to start working on dinner for everyone. “Smart, make him sick by talking about food and then send me in because you know that he’ll be pissed off at you for it.” Hao snarked as he walked off to try and find their Hyung to make sure that he was alright. 

It didn’t take too long for him to find his Hyung. He was right where Minghao suspected he would be, in the bathroom vomiting his guts up. Luckily, his Hyung was in such a hurry that he forgot to close and lock the door behind him so it was easy for the thief to get into the room. He got down on his knees behind his Hyung and started rubbing his back in a soothing motion of a circle, hoping that it would help him calm down a bit. It took awhile but finally Jeonghan stopped throwing up and leant back against his dongsang’s chest. “I am so going to kill Mingyu.” Jeonghan croaked, his voice shot from all of the vomiting that he had done in the past 24 hours. Minghao felt bad for his Hyung, he didn’t like it when one of the members were sick. Even though he didn’t show his emotions a lot, but he did in fact care for his members. After he had come over to Korea from China, they were the ones who decided to take him in and treated him like family. And for that he is forever greatfull. “I know Hyung.” Minghao said as he rubbed his back. “Don’t worry I can help you hide the body once you’re done.” “Thank you Hao, you’re a good dongsang unlike somebody else that I know.” Minghao laughed at that. “I know Hyung, but why don’t we go back to the bed, I’m sure that this would be more comfortable than the bathroom floor.” He suggested. Jeonghan sighed and gave him a side-eye, he has probably been caught at the moment but he didn’t care at this point he just wanted his Hyung to be alright. “Fine.” Jeonghan huffed out as he tried to get up off of the floor. 

And if they were both cuddled up in bed by the time that everyone had gotten back from their respective tasks they didn’t say anything about it at all. And if they had spent all night like that and Seungcheol and Joshua had to room with everyone else that also wasn’t brought up. And hey, they had a good cuddle time with each other and Jeonghan actually slept through the whole night for the most part. All in all it was a pretty good night. And that was just another day in the life of their little mixed up and mismatched patchwork family. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it. And to the rest of you Happy Holidays if you want them. And I posted for the same story twice in one month, and I'm proud of myself so here's the next chapter for you all.   
> -N

Chapter 3 

Minghao didn’t know how long he had been asleep for, all that he knew was that he hadn’t slept that well in a very long while. Though at first, he wasn’t quite sure what had woken him up from his surprisingly deep slumber, being a thief and all he has been able to develop the ability to snap to attention at a moment’s notice. It also didn’t help that he was very disoriented when he woke up. It took him a good few seconds to figure out where he was and then after looking around for a little bit he realized that he was in his 95-line-Hyung’s room. He was a bit confused as to what he was going in here since the last thing that he remembered was coming in to check on his Jeonghan-Hyung after Mingyu made him throw up. He was brought out of his stupor by a loud bang that came from the rooms in the in-suite bathroom. Minghao looks around in a mild panic, trying to find his Jeonghan-Hyung. He had a feeling that he was in the bathroom since he wasn’t in the bed with Minghao anymore. The Chinese thief jumped out of bed and raced around the room to the closed bathroom door. He was hoping that the door wasn’t locked in case something was wrong with him. Luckily when he tried to open the door Minghao found that it wasn’t locked and walked right in. He had found Jeonghan on the floor in between the toilet and the shower’s tub. He seemed unharmed but Minghao wasn’t going to be taking any chances on it. With his luck, it wouldn’t surprise him if his Hyung had some sort of head injury.

“Hyung, are you ok?” Minghao asked as he crouched down to be on a face to face level with Jeonghan. His Hyung hummed in response, but he didn’t answer the question. Which worried Minghao a little bit, his Hyung seemed pretty out of it, and not like he was all there at the moment. Minghao huffed to himself, great if Jeonghan was as out of it as he thought that he was then it would be a pain to get him back into bed. He started thinking that maybe he should go and try to see if any of the Hyungs have come back yet. He would even take Seungkwan or Seokmin at this point, at least they were med students. But first, he had to do damage control to make sure that everything was ok. “Hyung, are you ok?” He tried again. And this time to reach out to touch him on the shoulder to try and gain his attention. As soon as his hand made contact with Jeonghan’s shoulder he flinched back violently. He did it so hard that he ended up slamming his head into the wall. Minghao cringed at the loud bang sound Jeonghan’s head made as it made contact with the wall. Joshua was so going to murder him once he found out about this. “Hyung, calm down it’s just me, it’s Minghao.” He said as he tried a softer approach to the situation. Jeonghan still didn’t seem to be there enough mentally to be able to communicate with him. Great! 

Minghao was just about ready to go and get Mingyu to come in here to help him when all of a sudden Jeonghan just started screaming. At first, it was hard for him to make out since he was speaking so fast it was hard for him to keep up since he’s not a native Korean speaker, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was panicking. Minghao had realized that he was at a loss here. He didn’t know what to do to help his Hyung he wasn’t prepared for what he was supposed to do. The only thing that he could make out at this point was Jeonghan screaming the word NO over and over again. He was very confused about what to do about this situation. He knew that he needed to go and get help from the rest of the members, but he was scared to leave Jeonghan alone and he left his phone in the other room when he came back from doing laundry with Mingyu. He knows that this sounds really bad but Minghao hoped that his Hyung was screaming loud enough that the rest of the house would hear and come running to help. He didn’t know what to and he was hoping that someone would come to help. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

After a long day at the hospital, nothing would please Joshua more than to just come home and take a nice hot shower and cuddle with his lovely boyfriends. He just wanted on relaxing evening at home after the craziness that he has gone through in the last little bit. He sighed to himself as he exited the elevator and headed down the hallway where the apartment was located. Luckily he had beaten Seokmin and Seungkwan home from the hospital. The two other med students had gone to the library to study for an upcoming test that they had the next day so he just headed home because he had already taken the class. Though even if he had a lot of work to do today he probably would have just come home anyway since he was so tired from last night. He was hoping for a nice and quiet night in. If only he knew what he was getting himself into. 

He was quite surprised when he opened the front door and the whole apartment was completely silent. Which was very, very unusual for their household. Normally when one opens the front door you can hear all of the noise and yelling throughout the whole apartment. On a normal day, Joshua comes home to Mingyu and Minghao or Soonyoungand Jihoon in the middle of some sort of argument. With all of them yelling at the top of their lungs while Seunghceol is stuck in the middle trying to diffuse the situation and Jeonghan would be off to the side just laughing at him. Though this time it seems like there was nobody home. For a moment he had thought that he had walked into the wrong apartment. He was about 30 seconds from closing the door and turning around and trying to find his apartment. Luckily, he saw Mingyu coming out of one of the back rooms. Huh, so it actually was his place. 

“Hi Hyung!” Mingyu greeted him as he walked up to him and gave him a hug. “Where’s Seokmin and Seungkwan-ah? Are they still studying?” Mingyu asked him. Joshua shook his head in answer. “Yes, they went to the library to study for a test that they have tomorrow.” Joshua told him. Mingyu shook his head at his Hyung in understanding. “Hi Gyu-ah, how was your day?” Joshua asked. “Oh, nothing really exciting happened, Seungcheol-Hyung, Jihoon-Hyung, and Soonyoung-Hyung are still out meeting the client. So they left Minghao and me in charge, though it was just us Hansol, Chan and Jeonghan-Hyung.” Mingyu told him as they both moved to sit down on the couch. “Where are Jun and Wonwoo-ah?” “Oh, Jun-Hyung went with them as back-up and Wonwoo-Hyung is in the office monitoring the metting. He told us not to disturb him unless it was an emergency.” Mingyu told them. “How was Hannie? I tried to text him earlier but he never answered me.” Joshua asked him. “Oh, Hyung was fine last time that I checked on him, he tried to get out of bed and move around a lot, but we were able to get him back to bed, I think him and Minghao are both still asleep cuddling.” Mingyu told him. Joshua sighed a little bit in relief, he was hoping that Jeonghan would just sleep pretty much all day so that they wouldn’t have to worry about him trying to hurt himself or something. “That’s good, I was hoping that he would spend all day resting,” Joshua said. “And did you say that Seungcheol and the rest of them aren’t back yet?” He questioned. He remembered Seungcheol telling him about the new client that they were meeting. She was the granddaughter of some big mogul and he told him they would be in and out in no time. If they left on time and nothing unexpected had happened then they should be back by now. It was a little bit concerning. “Yeah, they aren’t back yet, Jun-Hyung texted a while ago and said that they would be running late.” “Do you happen to know the reason that they are running behind, are they ok?” Joshua asked he was a little bit worried about rather or not they were all ok. “Yeah they fine Hyung, I think the client just liked to talk and you know Seungcheol-Hyung he’s too much of a gentleman to interrupt her.” Mingyu pointed out. And Joshua visibly relaxed at that, he was just glad that nothing catastrophic had happened. Now, they just had to make sure that Jeonghan didn’t know about this fact so that he wouldn’t gut Seungcheol like a fish. Another little tidbit that most people don’t know about Jeonghan is that he can be quite jealous when he wants to be. And when he gets jealous things normally don’t end very well for anybody.

“Hannie doesn’t know anything about them being late does he?” Joshua asked. And don’t get him wrong Joshua loved both Jeonghan and Seungcheol equally as much as they loved them. But there was just the fact that when Jeonghan felt insecure about himself in their relationship and his overall roll as a person and the times where Seungcheol was a little bit too dense pick up on those signs, and nothing good has ever come from them. And since Jeonghan is at the moment, feeling a little bit low with him being sick, and if he found out about it then their poor leader is a dead man walking. “I haven’t told Hyung anything that I was told, I just let him sleep for as long as he can.” Mingyu told him. Joshua sighed and rolled his eyes at his dongsang’s antics. Leave it to Mingyu to always try and brighten the mood of a situation. “Good work Mingyu-ah.” Joshua told him with a laugh. 

The two of them spent the next couple of minutes just sitting around the living room chatting about their respective days and what not. At one point they were interrupted when Wonwoo walked out of the office. “Is the meeting over?” Joshua asked, as Wonwoo sat down on the couch next to Mingyu. “Yes, finally.. The new client Ms. Kang liked to talk a lot, she kept asking questions and thanking us over and over again, poor Seungcheol-Hyung didn’t have the heart in him to cut her off so that they could leave.” Wonwoo told them. “Yeah, that’s what Jun-Hyung told me when he texted that they would be late coming home.” Mingyu butted in. “He told me that by watching her body langauge that she had a thing for Seungcheol-Hyung.” Wonwoo smacked him at that comment. “Be nice you two, and don’t worry about it Wonwoo-ah, it doesn’t bother me that she had an interested in him.” Joshua stated very calmly. “Really Hyung? How does that not bother you?” Mingyu questioned him. “Well, I’m not like Jeonghan, and I don’t mean this in a bad way, because I know that he trusts Seungcheol just as much as I do, but I’m not the jealous type.” Joshua told them. “And besides Seungcheol knows where and who butters his bread, and I think he likes it a little bit too much to try anything funny.” Joshua said smugly. “Eww.. TMI Hyung, TMI.” Mingyu said. Wonwoo just rolled his eyes and just sunk back more into the couch. Joshua just laughed at them. They were in the middle of a discussion of what they would have for dinner that night, when their conversation was interrupted by a loud piercing scream. “That sounds like Hannie!” Joshua said in a panicked tone. The two of them just looked at each other before they sprung up off of the couch to go and look for Jeonghan and Minghao. 

On the way there they ran into Hansol and Chan as they were coming out of their room. When they ended up colliding with them all five of them went down in the floor. “Is everyone ok?” Wonwoo asked as he went to pick himself up off of the ground. He recieved some groans as a response but everyone for the most part seemed ok. Though when they heard more screaming, and Minghao’s sudden yell for help, they all popped up and took off the back bedroom. It was times like these when Joshua wondered why he let Jeonghan talk him into picking the back room as their own since it was so far away from the living room. Upon reaching the door, Joshua was hoping that the bedroom door wasn’t locked. He sighed in relief when Mingyu could just open the door without any trouble. When they were finally able to get into the room, a rush of panic ran through Joshua when he didn’t immediately see Jeonghan and Minghao as soon as the door was open. “Hao, Hannie-Hyung!” Mingyu called after he burst into the room. Looks like that Joshua wasn’t the only one panicking about not being able to see them when they came in. “In here, hurry Hyung, I don’t know what to do !” Minghao shouted from inside the bathroom. When they walked into the bathroom was when a large wave of dread ran through Joshua at the sight before him. 

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What a lot of people, especially the members of SEVENTEEN don’t know about Jeonghan is his family and the life that he had before joining the group. It’s not that he didn’t trust any of them, which he did, he trusted all of them with his life, but he had a hard time opening up to them about his past. The only people that know a little bit about his past are Seungcheol, Joshua, Soonyoung, Jihoon, and Chan(who knows the least about it, because Jeonghan wanted to keep it that way). And even they don’t know all of it. The two who know the most are Seungcheol and Joshua and he had known them for awhile and had been dating for well over a year before he told them everything. Well, not everything, but enough for him to feel like he’s truthful with them, and be able to go on with his life. It’s not that he’s ashamed about his life before the group….. Ok that’s an outright blatant lie, he’s very ashamed of his life before hand. 

Jeonghan’s mother is a wonderful, beautiful, and increidbly intelligent woman. She would never hurt a fly even if she had to, and would give you the shirt off her back if it meant that she could help you. She was always told that she would make something grand out of herself and that she would go places in her life. Though that all changed when she met his father, he was tall, handsome, and a great lair. His mother always told him he got his manipulative nature and way with words from him. He never met his birth father, he doesn’t even know his name. His mother never really talked about him. The only father that he has ever known is his step-father, Kwon Jaewong (with no relation to Hoshi, he checked more than once). She met him when he was still considered a newborn and they got married not that long after he turned a year old. And a couple of years later she gave birth to his little sister Kwon Yewan, though she never liked her name and changed it to Yehana. When they were little they were called Hannie, and Hana. The two of them till this day are still very close with each other. Hana would follow him everywhere when they were children and Jeonghan let her. He had a perfect childhood, with a loving family. Everything was perfect, until it wasn’t. 

When Jeonghan was about 8 or 9 years old, he can’t be sure exactly how old he was, he remembers his father going out with some friends to play cards. At the time he didn’t think much of it with him being a kid after all. But what he didn’t know was after that night his life would take a turn for the worse. The amount of nights that his father would go out to play cards would increase in frequency throughout the week. And not long after so would the hours that he would be gone. It got to the point that they were lucky if he would come home to even sleep at night, he was always out playing cards. And before they knew it things began to change around the house. Because even though his father liked to play cards, he was terrible at them. He always lost, and would just keep on playing until he won something which never happened. He can remember going up to his mother after she had put Hana down for a nap one day and asking her if there was something wrong because she never smiled anymore. In giving him an answer that was the first time that he had seen her smile in months, but he could tell that it was forced for his benefit. She had told him that nothing was wrong and that he had nothing to worry about. She had hugged him and kissed him on the head and then told him to go play in his room until dinner was ready. As he walked up the stairs of the house into his bedroom the only thing that he could think about was why his mother had just lied to his face. 

Things only got worse for his family after that. He can remember when he was about 10 coming home from school with Hana, and their parents were in the kitchen in the middle of a screaming match. He remembers picking Hana up and sprinting up the stairs to her room. He walked in and sat her down and told her to go play while he went close and lock her door. They spent what felt like forever up there until their mother knocked on the door to tell them that dinner was ready. He hesitantly unlocked the door to let her in, and he could tell by her look that their father was gone, and something was very wrong. Later that night after Hana was put to bed and he was helping her wash the dishes, his mother broke down crying as she told him that their father had gotten fired from his job at a local factory. He had asked her why he had gotten fired since he was in such a high ranking position. She had made up some sort of excuse about how they were making cutbacks everywhere and just wanted younger people. He didn’t believe her for a second; he knew that the real reason that his step-father was fired was because of his gambling addiction. Yes, his step-father was a compulsive gambler, he went and looked it up at school in the library during recess. He knew that this wasn’t going to end well unless he did something. But he didn’t know exactly what it was that he was supposed to do, he was only a little kid at the time. It wasn’t until a week later that these men in suits from the local bank came to the front door. His step-father was the one in charge of paying the bills and household expenses. When he started gambling he used the money that was supposed to keep them all clothed, fed, and have a place to live to gamble it all away. They came to evict them from their home because the rent hadn’t been paid in months. It was then that he realized what he had to do. 

His mother had always told him that he had inherited his birth father’s knack for manipulating the situation, and being able to talk himself out of anything. When he was little she would tell him before he would go to bed about how his father knew how to read anybody and everybody that he had ever encountered in his life. It didn’t take him that long to be able to figure out that his father was nothing more than a scammer and a con-man. Later on he would learn the correct term for his father would be a grifter, as that was what he ended up becoming himself. When they were kicked out of their house and had to move into a smaller apartment, Jeonghan knew that they were struggling. His step-father had no job, and he didn’t seem to eager to go and get another one. His mother’s 2 part time jobs that she had to get to help pay the bills hardly put a dent in it. So Jeonghan was determined to help them out whenever and however he could. 

So you better believe that the next day he was out on the streets scamming people for money. The routines that he had developed were fairly simple, standard for scams, and everyone fell for it all the time without fail. He would come home after school to drop Hana off, and her father would be there since he had no job and his usual gambling haunts weren’t open for another couple of hours, he would tell him that he was going to the library to study some extra for school and that he would be back before he had to leave. He would then go to the corner of the busy intersection downtown and would wait for his next victim. He kind of reminded himself of a lion laying in wait to pounce on an unsuspecting gazelle in the nature documenteires that his science teacher made them watch in class. He quickly went on to something else to think about when he saw this good-looking business man come down the street near him. This is what he did everyday for years. His new rountine would be get up, get Hana and himself ready for school. Then after school he would take her home he would go to the ‘library’ for a couple of hours, then come home as Hana’s father was leaving and then make the two of them supper. After he would give her a bath and then put her to bed, and he would hide all of the money if any that he had earned that day in a little box that he kept in his sister’s closet. He was determined that she would have some money for her to be able to have a future greater than this even if it killed him. He just had to make sure that her father never found out about her stash. Then he would work on his school assignments in the kitchen and clean up the house a bit while he waited for their mother to come home from work. It had gotten to the point to where he was just numb to it all. He thought that anybody stupid enough to fall for his tricks didn’t deserve to keep the money that he took from them. At least, that’s what he thought until he tried to scam an unsuspecting cashier at a convience store with big brown eyes, and a heart twice the size of him. 

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In all of the time that Joshua had known Jeonghan he had never seen him so distraught. Jeonghan had always been one of the members who is really good at schooling his features, and hiding his true emotions. He never let someone know if he was struggling with something. Jeonghan was and has always been the person that anyone in the group can go to when they had problems or needed a shoulder to cry on. He was the pillar that helped to keep the group a float most days. So to see him like this was completely unnerving. It broke his heart to see one of his lovers in such pain, and he didn’t even know what to do to help. Jeonghan was curled up in a ball on the floor, shoved in the space between the toilet and the bathtub. With his head buried in his knees, and his arms wrapped protectively around himself. He looked so small, he looked smaller than Woozi, and that was saying something. 

“What happened Hao?” Joshua asked him as he moved to the front of the group to be closer to Jeonghan. “I don’t know Hyung, I woke up when I heard this big bang, and realized that Jeonghan-Hyung was gone.” Minghao explained. “When I went looking for him I found him in here, when I tried to see if he was okay he started screaming.” Mingyu decided then to walk up behind Minghao and wrap his arms around him in a hug. “It’s ok HaoHao, you did your best, everything’s going to be alright.” He whispered into his ear. Minghao nodded solemly, and he had a hint of redness to his cheeks, but it was so faint that no one noticed it. “You did good, Minghao, you did very well, this isn;t your fault.” Joshua told him. “Now, why don’t you go and take Hansol, and Chan into the living room and watch some tv, while Mingyu, Wonwoo and I take care of Hannie alright?” Joshua told him as he started to move closer to Jeonghan. Minghao nodded and moved to take Hansol and Chan who were both standing in the threshold, watching the scene unfold. They went without complaint, even though Chan was clinging onto Hansol the whole entire time, and even as they were leaving his eyes never left Jeonghan once. 

With the three of them gone Johsua got busy on putting Mingyu and Wonwoo to work. Their job was to hover close, but not too close while Joshua was trying to calm Jeonghan down and bring him back to reality. They were to only step in if he freaked out again, and Joshua needed the help to restrain him from hurting himself further. From what Joshua could tell he hadn’t done any damage to himself at all. Though it was very hard for him to tell since he was huddled in on himself so much it wasn’t funny. He let out a little sigh and then crouched down on the floor to be at eye level with Jeonghan, and scooted across the tile to be next to him, but not crowding him. “Hey, Hannie…” Joshua tried in a soft, and gentle tone as not to scare him. He hated how he to treat Jeonghan like a wounded animal when he was his boyfriend, a person, not something that would just lash out and hurt him, probably. He waited a few minutes, but got no response in return. Joshua sighed to himself, this is going to be harder than he thought. 

It took what seemed like forever, but what was probably only 5 minutes if that, but Jeonghan eventually talked to him. “.....Shua?..... I-Isss that…. You…” Jeonghan slurred out. Joshua was a little bit concerned about that since he wasn’t sure if he was just that out of it or his fever was so high that it was frying his brain cells as they speak. He’ll deal with that once he can get him off of the floor and out of the bathroom. “Yeah, Hannie it’s me, I’m right here across from you.” Joshua told him. He waited a beat before he tried to talk to him again. “Hannie, can I come closer to you?” He asked. Jeonghan nodded his head in a frantic motion, indicating that he wanted Joshua to come closer to him. Joshua complied and moved closer to his boyfriend. When he got really close to him, Jeonghan just flung out his arms, and wrapped his arms around Joshua to pull him closer to him. He was taken aback for a moment and used his prefial vision to check and see if Mingyu and Wonwoo had moved. The two of them were still in the exact same spot that he had told them to be in when they started this. Not long after Jeonghan had put him in his death grip did he start crying in Joshua’s arms. Since he had ahold of Jeonghan he was able to sneakily check his temperature. He felt very warm, but Joshua wasn’t sure if he was warmer than the last time he had checked or not. “Shh… Hannie, Hannie bay it’s alright, I’m here you’re safe.” Joshua soothed. Jeonghan just continued to sob, and he mumbled something that Joshua couldn’t make out into his shirt. “What, Hannie I couldn’t understand what you just said.” Jeonghan sniffled a little before he tried to talk again. “I-I,.... I w-wok-ke up-p, …… a-a-and you-u, and C-Cheolli-ie weren’t there, I-I th-ought that s-some-ething bad-d h-happened to you.” Jeonghan cried. Joshua could tell that he was getting more worked up the more he was trying to explain to them what happened. He felt like a complete heel. 

“It’s ok baby, it’s ok, I had to go to the hospital today that’s why I wasn’t here with you.” Joshua told his as he rubbed circles into his back. “And Cheollie was here earlier, but he had to go with Jihoonie and Soonyoungie to go meet a client remember?” Jeonghan nodded his head in a ‘no’ motion and then procceded to cling on even tighter to Joshua. Joshua huffed to himself, so it seems that Jeonghan had freaked out so bad that he couldn’t remember anything. That was just great. The two of them sat there for a couple of more minutes before Jeonghan began to move. “What’s wrong Hannie, do you want to get up?” Joshua asked him. Jeonghan shook his head and grabbed at his stomach. “Are you nauseous, are you going to be sick?” Jeonghan shook his head and buried his head in the crook of Joshua’s neck. It then dawned on him what Jeonghan wanted, he cursed himself internally, they really had bad luck. “Ok, ok don’t freak out, everything is going to be alright,” Joshua told him. “Mingyu-ah, and Wonwoo-ah are here, they’re going to help you get off of the floor, and then they’re going to leave and it’ll just be the two of us okay?” Jeonghan nodded and moved out from underneath Joshua’s neck so that Mingyu and Wonwoo could help them stand when they came over. It took them awhile to get Jeonghan off of the floor since he wasn’t really in control of his fine motor skills at the moment. Once they got him standing and to where Joshua was able to solely support him, the two of them fled from the room. “Just call us if you need anything Hyung, we’ll be outside!” Wonwoo shouted as he closed the door behind him. “Than you guys, we will !” Joshua shouted back. It wasn’t long after they had left that Jeonghan had doubled over in on himself in Joshua’s grip. Joshua sighed to himself and began to wonder what he did to deserve this. 

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On the way home from meeting the client, the little group had run into Seungkwan and Seokmin when they reached the building. “Hi Hyung!” Seungkwan shouted as he went to go and greet the 4 of them. “Hi Kwanie,” Woozi greeted as he was the first victim of his dongsang. “I can’t breathe.” Seungkwan let go of his Hyung with an apologetic look on his face and then went to go and hug the rest of the group, even Seokmin who he had spent all day with. “How was your guy’s day, did you two ace that test?” Seungcheol asked as he ruffled up Seokmin’s hair playfully. “It went ok Hyung, I think that we both did pretty decent at it.” He told him. “That’s good DK, we knew that you could do it.” Seungcheol told him with a hint of pride in his voice. DK smiled at him and then went over to Soonyoung, and Seungkwan to horse around with the last little bit of the way home. “I swear those 3.” Seungcheol muttered to himself with a laugh. “Don’t be too hard on them Seungcheol-Hyung, they’re just having a good time.” Jun told him as he walked up behind him and Woozi. “I know, but still sometimes I just want to…” He trailed off. Jun laughed in response and ran ahead to go and catch up with the others. It was only Seungcheol and Jihoon left back to bring up the rear. 

“So are you going to tell Jeonghan-Hyung, and Joshua-Hyung about our little Ms. Kang?” Woozi questioned in a teasing like tone. “I mean, I’m going to tell them about her since she’s our client now and everything, but I don’t know if I want to go into great detail about her…” Seungcheol said. “Oh! You little…. You just wanted to see me sweat didn’t you.” Woozi chuckled and ducked out of the way when Seungcheol tried to slap him on the back of his head. Seungcheol laughed to himself as he saw his other dongsang take off after the rest of them into the building. It wasn’t long after they all walked in and piled into the elevator that they all started arguing over what they wanted to eat for dinner. The other topic at hand would be who got to hug Jeonghan first when they entered the apartment. They had agreed that Seungcheol would go first by default since he is dating him, but they were arguing over who got to go next after him. The leader couldn’t help but roll his eyes at their antics, he did love his family, don’t get him wrong, but there were times where he just wondered what went on in their minds. He was brought out of his thoughts when the elevator dinged, telling them that they were on their floor and to get out. He couldn’t wait to get home and snuggle up with his lovers and have a nice, and peaceful evening at home. Oh, if only he knew what he was getting in for. 

“We’re home!” Soonyoung shouted as he opened the front door to the apartment. Everyone behind him was a little bit shocked at how quiet the place was as they entered through the door. “Hello? Is anyone here?” Seungkwan called out, skipping taking off his shoes and roaming through the apartment looking for people. Seungcheol couldn’t pinpoint it, but he had just felt this feeling of dread sweep over him as he walked inside. “We’re in here Seungkwan!” They heard Vernon shout from the living room as they walked through the door. The six men walked into the living room to find Minghao, Vernon and Dino all seated and huddled together on the couch. Now, normally they wouldn’t have thought anything of it, even though Minghao and Chan weren’t very touchy people they still would often cuddle when convinced or forced to(Um.. Yoon Jeonghan). But this time it was different. Hansol was in the middle with Minghao and Chan on either side of him, and they were all huddled together. And it looked like that Minghao and Chan were crying. Another thing that was slightly out of the ordinary. Chan if pressed enough or felt the need to would cry in front of people, though he normally would only do it when he was by himself or in front of Seungcheol or one of the other 95s. Though Minghao, he just didn’t cry. In all of the time that Seungcheol has known him he has never seen the other boy cry at all. And to see him with tears streaming down his face with a look of fear etched on it scared Seungcheol a little. Something was wrong here, something was very wrong here, but he didn’t know what. 

“Hansol, what’s wrong?” Seungcheol asked as he moved to the front of the group trying to find out what was wrong. He looked at all of them and Vernon was the one to seem in the best mindset to answer his questions. “Um, Hyung I don’t know how to tell you this but it’s Jeonghan-Hyung.” Hansol told him in a very serious, no nonsense tone that was so unlike him. Seungcheol could feel all of the color drain from his face and the air leave from his lungs. “Jeonghan-Hyung, what’s wrong?” Jun asked him. He could tell that Junhui was about ready to lose it with the way that he was watching Minghao, searching his face for answers. Minghao and Junhui are very close, with them both hailing from China before they found Seungcheol and each other. Jun came first and he was very open and friendly with everyone, once he realized that they weren’t going to harm him, especially after he tried to kill them all. And then Minghao came a little while after, and he was more closed off and reserved than Jun and wouldn’t talk to any of them but Jun. And there were 2 reasons for that. The first one is that at the time Minghao didn’t understand Korean very well or at all for that matter, and Jun was the only one who could speak Mandarin to where The8 could understand him clearly. And the other reason is that Jun already knew him somewhat, and Minghao recorganized him and refused to talk to anyone but him. The two of them were recruited by the same spy agency when they were children and had become kind of close with one another before they had gotten seperated. And that was how Jun and Mingming became close with one another. So the morale of the story is that Minghao and Jun are extremely close and it pains him to see his dongsang who almost never shows any emotion to be sitting here in front of them balling his eyes out like this. 

“Hao, what happened?” Jun questioned him softly as he moved to crouch down in front of his dongsang. Minghao didn’t answer him, but he just sprung out and wrapped himself around his Hyung. He started to cry again, and talk in Chinese so no one could understand him, not even Jun with how frantic he was sounding. And not that long after Chan busted into tears too, and Soonyoung ran over and wrapped him up in his arms. And that just left Jihoon to support the weight of their leader alone, and it wouldn’t have been that bad, except for the height difference. He didn’t know how long that he could it up until Hansol got up from the couch and came over to help him support their Hyung. “I don’t think that you’re going to get anything out of Minghao-Hyung, Jun-Hyung.” Hansol told them as he was trying to move Seungcheol over to the couch since he was still looking a little bit faint. “Minghao-Hyung was the one who was there when Jeonghan started freaking out, and was the one who called us for help.” “Do you know happened exactly Hansol?” Woozi asked him. “Not really Hyung,” Vernon said as he sat there leader down in between his little brother and Minghao. “Well when you guys were still out meeting with the client, Jeonghan-Hyung tried to get up and move around when Minghao-Hyung and Mingyu-Hyung went down to do some laundry. Chan and I made sure that he didn’t do anything to hurt himself until someone came back. Mingyu-Hyung was able to trick him into going back to resting, and Minghao-Hyung went to make sure that he was ok.” Hansol told them. “Then how did that turn into this?” Seungcheol asked as he moved over to where Soonyoung and his little brother were huddled together on the couch. He put his hand on Chan’s back and rubbed some soothing circles into his back. “Well when they went back to your guy’s bedroom, Mingyu-Hyung went with us into our room, and then he came back out when he heard Joshua-Hyung come home.” “What happened after that?” Soonyoung questioned. “From what your telling us it’s like we missed something big.” “ Well, Chan and I were in our room playing cards when all of a sudden we heard this really loud scream, we didn’t know who it was until Minghao-Hyung started calling for help.” “Do you know what happened to make Jeonghan-Hyung scream so loud and scare Hao?” Jun questioned as he was busy dealing with a lap full of The8. “I’m not sure Minghao-Hyung didn’t say, All that I know is Shua-Hyung told him to take me and Channie out here, while him, Wonwoo-Hyung, and Mingyu-Hyung took care of Jeonghan-Hyung.” Hansol told him. “And they’ve been in there ever since.” 

“I’m going to go and check on them.” Seungcheol said as he stood up from the couch to walk back to the bedroom. “Do you guys have them?” He questioned, gesturing towards Minghao, and Chan. “Don’t worry Hyung we have it.” Jun told him, as the others nodded in agreement that could. Seungcheol nodded and went to go and check on his two lovers. When he reached his bedroom he knocked on it to make sure that he wasn’t disturbing anything. He wasn’t the least bit surprised when Wonwoo was the one who opened the door for him. “Hyung, I’m so glad that you’re here.” And it sounded so unlike Wonwoo that it scared him just a little bit. “How is he?” Seungcheol asked as he walked into the room. Upon entering he saw Mingyu sitting on the floor just outside the door to their bathroom, with an anxious look on his face. “I’m not sure what to tell you Hyung.” He jumped a little as Wonwoo’s voice brought him out of his head. “Shua-Hyung got us to get him off of the floor, and then we had to leave because he was feeling sick, and he felt embarrassed to have us in here.” Wonwoo told him. “How long have they been in there?” Seungcheol asked him. “A while, we’re not sure what’s going on in there since they turned on the water to drown out the sound of Jeonghan-Hyung getting sick. Seungcheol couldn’t help but not overlook the look of fear on Mingyu’s face. Even though him and Jeonghan are two totally different people with completely different interests from each other, they’re still very close to each other. It must be killing him that he can’t help out his Hyung when he’s feeling bad. “Have you two just been waiting out here then?” Seungcheol questioned them. “Yeah, we told Shua-Hyung that we would wait out here in case he needed something. “ Mingyu told him. “You did Gyu-ah.” Seungcheol said as he bent down to ruffle Mingyu’s hair. “I’m going to see if they’ll let me in.” Seungcheol said. “Ok well we’ll go outside and wait then, just yell if you need anything then.” Wonwoo said as pulled Mingyu up from the floor and out of the room. Seungcheol took a deep breath, before he raised his fist and knocked lightly on the door. 

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Joshua had spent at least the past at least 15 minutes in the bathroom with Jeonghan. And they had been alternating with Jeonghan vomiting and him dealing with painful stomach cramps that have left him doubled over on the toilet gasping for breath. And Joshua felt so bad that there wasn’t anything that he could do to help him more. All that he could do was sit beside him on the edge of the bathtub, and hold him up and rub his back for some comfort, even though it wasn’t a lot with how much he was moaning and groaning in pain. He sighed to himself as Jeonghan let out another groan of pain. He shifted on the toilet seat and lent more of his body weight into Joshua’s side. “Shhh….. Hannie, baby it’s ok, it’s going to be ok, just ride it out and then you can go back to bed ok?” Joshua told him as he hugged his lover tighter to himself. Jeonghan whimpered in pain and huddled closer into Joshua’s side and tucked his head underneath his shoulder. He was really hoping that these cramps would end at some point soon. He knew that the human body could only take so much, and he didn’t know how much more that Jeonghan could take before it was too much for him. At some point the pain became too much for him, and Jeonghan began to cry just a little. Joshua heard and held him closer to his chest and just kept trying to shush him while rubbing his back. At this point he was at a loss for what to do. He was pretty sure that his fever was beginning to climb again, and he couldn’t keep anything down, along with the fact that he hadn’t eaten anything all day. He had been debating taking him to the hospital since yesterday, and he had finally made up his mind to take him to the emergency room to get checked out. Once Jeonghan was done, and he could get Mingyu and Wonwoo to get him to bed he’d call Solar and see if she was on call of if she knew who was so he could get him some help. He just hoped that he could get him some help so that he wouldn’t be in pain anymore. 

The two of them had sat in silence for a couple of more minutes if you don’t count the quiet sobbing coming from Jeonghan. Joshua was hoping for this to be over very soon when he heard a loud knock at the door. That was a little bit strange since he had sent everyone out but Wonwoo and Mingyu. “Who is it?” He called. “It’s me babe.” He heard Seungcheol call through the door. “Can you let me in?” “The door’s unlocked Cheollie.” Joshua called, hoping that he could hear him over the water running, in his attempts to drown out Jeonghan’s suffering so that no one could hear and he would stop freaking out. Not even a full minute later the door creaked open and Seungcheol poked his head in through the opening. “How is he?” Seungcheol questioned as he opened the door wider and walked into the room. “Not good.” Joshua told him grimmly. Seungcheol sighed as he walked closer to his two lovers. “Do you want me to turn the water off since I sent Mingyu and Wonwoo outside?” He asked Joshua. He nodded his head, and Seungcheol then went to turn the faucet off. Once that was done he then went over and crouched down in front of Jeonghan, and pushed back some of the hair that had fallen into his face. “Hey, baby, I heard you weren’t doing so hot.” He mummered. Jeonghan just whimpered in response and took his head out from underneath Joshua’s chin and went and hugged Seungcheol tightly. “I know baby, I know that you probably feel absolutely awful, but it’s going to be ok alright, we just have to let this pass and then Josh can patch you up, how does that sound?” Seungcheol suggested as he kissed him on the forehead. He was quite surprised at how hot his skin felt to the touch, and was starting to worry about rather or not that they would probably have to go to the hospital. Jeonghan whimpered in pain and just clung onto him tighter. Seungcheol rubbed his back in soothing circles and glanced up to make eye contact with Joshua, and by the looks of it they were both worried and were thinking the same thing. They had to do something soon. 

After what felt like an eternity, they were finally able to get Jeonghan cleaned up and out of the bathroom. When they got out, Seungcheol texted Wonwoo and told him to go and tell the rest of the kids that they were alright, and that they would come out in a little while to check on them. He would have stepped out into the hallway to tell them himself but once Joshua had gotten Jeonghan out of the shower, he thrown himself at Seungcheol and hasn’t let go since. He has spent that time going in and out of sleep with how in pain, and exhausted he was. Seungcheol began to rock from side to side on his place on the bed to try and get Jeonghan to go to sleep. While he was doing that Joshua was flying around the room in one big blur bouncing between trying to find everything that they would need to take Jeonghan to the hospital with, and giving him some tempeoray relief now until they get there. And at the moment while he was packing up their stuff he couldn’t find where he had put his phone earlier, and he needed it to call Solar to see if she could help. “What are you looking for Shua?” Seungcheol asked as he was manuvering Jeonghan around to keep him from falling off of the bed. Jeonghan groaned and cuddled more into Seungcheol for warmth. With how much he had seemed to be shivering, they could only guess that his fever was so high and it was causing him to be cold. “I’m trying to find my phone so that I can call Solar-Noona to see if she’s on call or if she knows who is so that I can go ahead and try to register Hannie on the way there so that he doesn’t have to wait.” Joshua said as he went around the room in a tizzy trying to pack everything. “Shua.” Seungcheol called. And with the tone of voice that he used Joshua paused in his motions and turned around to look at his lover. “Chill, babe, everything’s ok, just stop for a moment and take a deep breath for me can you do that?” He asked him. Joshua nodded and then started to take a couple of deep breaths in and out to try and relax himself about the situation. After a few minutes he was deemed calm enough by his boyfriend to try and carry on a conversation. “Ok, now how about you take my phone to call Solar-Noona since I know that you have her number memorized now, and tell what’s going on, and I’ll get Wonwoo and Mingyu in here to help us finish packing and get Hannie to the car alright?” Seungcheol suggested as he went to lay Jeonghan on the bed and go and get their friends from the hallway to ask for their help. Joshua nodded and took the phone when Seungcheol handed it to him after he laid their third lover, who was mostly asleep at the time. He then disappeared into the bathroom to make the call, while Seungcheol went out into the hallway to get everyone. 

“Hyung, what’s wrong?!” Mingyu said as he shot up from his place on the floor when he saw Seungcheol come out of the room. And Wonwoo turned his head to look at their leader when he noticed him from his place up against the wall near the door. “Nothing, too terribly wrong Gyu.” Seungcheol said with a tiny laugh at his dongsang’s worry for his Hyung. “We’re just going to take Hannie to the hospital to get him checked out, Shua’s worried about the fact that he can’t keep anything down and wants to go and get him checked out so that he doesn’t get dehydrated.” Seungcheol told him. Wonwoo nodded in understanding and appeared to be pretty calm about the whole thing. Mingyu on the other hand seemed to be about ready to explode, he tended to over worry about people and even though him and Jeonghan don’t have a whole lot in common he’s very close to him. Jeonghan is like the mother of all of them and he helped take care of them all. So when mom gets sick things tend to go haywire. “Don’t worry Mingyu, Hannie’s going to be just fine, we’re just taking him to be on the safe side, and he’ll be fine alright, don’t worry too much about him.” Seungcheol told him as he walked over to Mingyu and hugged him. When they pulled apart he could see that Mingyu had a little bit of a smile on his face. Wonwoo walked up behind him and patted him on the back. “Don’t worry we’re here for you Hyung.” He told him with a small smile on his face. Seungcheol smiled back in response, and chuckled a little bit at them. “I know, and I also know that I have the best dongsangs in the whole wide world.” Seungcheol told them. “Now, there is in fact a reason as to why I’m out here, Shua’s in the bathroom using my phone to call Solar-Noona to see if he can find some way to get Hannie registered at the hospital before we get there. I think that he’s packed everything that we would need up already, I just need you guys to help me get the bags and Hannie to the car while I go and try to calm down the masses, can you guys do that?” Both of them nodded their heads, and then went into the room to do as they were told. While Seungcheol went out into the living room to explain what was going on and hopefully keep everyone calm enough so that they could get out of there quickly. 

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Once Joshua had gotten into the bathroom, he had to take a few moments to get himself together enough to be able to dial the number. When he was finally able to do it didn’t take that long before she picked up the phone. “Hello?” Solar said when she answered the phone. She sounded a little bit tired, but none the less she still sounded very awake at that moment, so Joshua was still hoping that she was on duty tonight. “Hi, uh, Solar-Noona, it’s me Joshua, are you on call tonight, or on shift by any chance?” He questioned her. She didn’t take that long to answer him at all. “Yes, I’m doing both, I don’t technically get off until 6, but I’m on call so I’ve just been staying here at the hospital, what you need Joshua-ah?” She asked him right off the bat. “Um, well I need to ask you if you can maybe register Hannie in as a patient, we’ll be there in like 15 minutes tops if Cheollie’s driving us, but he’s really sick. He hasn’t been able to keep anything down all day, and he has a really high fever, I’m worried that he’s going to get dehydrated.” Joshua told her, worry evident in his tone still. “Don’t worry Shua, I have you covered alright, you just worry about getting all three of you there you hear me? Let Noona take care of the rest.” Solar told him. Joshua sighed in relief, he was so thankful for having a Noona like Solar. “Thank you so much Noona, I can’t tell you how much this means to me.” Joshua said in a wavery, and watery voice. He was about two seconds away from crying his eyes out right here on the phone in front of his Noona, who he really respected. “Don’t worry about Josh, just take care of your family, and I’ll see you when you guys get here alright, I gotta go bye.” She said as she hung up the phone when she got paged over the intercom. Joshua gave her a quick bye, and hung up the phone. He then went back out to finish things up where he hoped that Wonwoo and Mingyu were already there to help him. 

When he stepped out of the bathroom, he was beyond relieved that they were out there. Wonwoo had finished his mess of packing and was gathering everything up so that it would be all neat and in order to go out the door with. And Mingyu was with Jeonghan getting his coat and shoes on and trying to keep him engaged and awake so that he could carry him out the door down to the car. Both of them had seemed oblivious to his presence at the moment and he had to clear his throat loudly to get their attention. “Oh, Hyung there you are, we just about have everything ready to go, and Seungcheol-Hyung is out in the living room explaining everything to the kids so that you can leave fairly fast.” Wonwoo told him as he had noticed him first. Joshua nodded his head in understanding before walking over to the bed to check on Mingyu and Jeonghan. “How is he doing?” Joshua asked him. “He’s awake, but he’s half asleep, and not very lucid but I’m not sure if it’s from the fever or his exhaustion, but I’ve gotten him to answer a few of my questions so that’s good right?” Mingyu just looked up at him with his big puppy dog eyes, and Joshua didn’t have the heart in him to crush his hopes. “You did good Mingyu, and you’re right, it’s good that you got him to answer you, that means that he isn’t as bad as I thought he was.” Joshua told him. That was when Wonwoo cleared his throat behind them, the two of them turned to see him standing carrying all of the bags, and looking ready to go. Joshua took that as his cue to get going. He nodded at Mingyu who then picked up a half asleep Jeonghan and began to carry him out of the room. Joshua was the last one to leave the room, and he was hoping that everything would go alright in the end. 

When they got to the living room everyone was gathered around waiting on them. Seungcheol was standing in the middle of it all close to the front door waiting on them. “Do we have everything?” He asked softly as not to disturb Jeonghan who had fallen asleep in Mingyu’s hold. “Yeah, I think so, let’s go. Did you explain everything to everyone?” He questioned as he walked up to him. Seungcheol nodded. “Yep, everything’s been explained and the 96 line has been put in charge for the time being.” Seungcheol informed him. Joshua nodded and went with Seungcheol as he opened the door, and the five of them left the apartment to go down to the car to go to the hospital. Once they got the bags, and Jeonghan into the car, Wonwoo, and Mingyu went back inside. After making sure that they got in, because if Jeonghan found out that they didn’t check to make sure that they got back in when he gets better then he’d have both of their heads, they pulled out of the parking lot and got on the highway. They drove the 15 minutes that it took to get to the hospital, and because of Solar’s help that got checked in fairly quickly. And before they all knew it they had Jeonghan in a room and hooked up to an IV filled with fluid to help hydrate him until the doctor could get to him. Both Joshua and Seungcheol just sat next to his bedside and huddled together, waiting for him to wake up. Which they hoped was soon. For all of their sakes, they really needed Jeonghan well.

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All that goes down after Jeonghan goes to the hospital. It's not really pretty, and we get a little bit more background information on our characters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, Happy New Year to everyone ! I hope that this year treats you better than the last one did. Another thing to get off my to do lists is to actually make an author's note on my works. I always want to try to put one up with each update, and then I forget when I get to the posting part. Anyway after this chapter I hope to post some more on my other works at some point don't know when though because I have a lot of ideas for this one that I want to get out before I forget them all. Lastly thank you to all of you who have read, commented, and liked this story! I really appreciate it! Also, the only thing that I own in this and all of my other stories is the plot ideas that I come up with, and nothing else.   
> -N

Chapter 4 

The three of them had ended up spending the next 3 days in the hospital. It had only taken about 5 hours before Jeonghan had woken up enough to be considered lucid, but the doctors had wanted to keep him longer for observation. Which didn’t really go over well for Jeonghan, who had a well known phobia of hospitals among the group. On a regular day it would take more than an act of Congress to get him to come within a 5 mile radius of them. Which in itself is very ironic since one of his lovers and two of his dongsangs work at one. But he’s always hated them ever since he was little and he could never quite explain why that was. One time Seungkwan had suggested that he most likely had some sort of traumatic experience at one when he was younger that had scared him for life and had just simply blocked it out. Regardless of why he hated hospitals doesn’t help the fact that he can’t stand them. Just walking up to the front doors the few times that he had gone and visited Joshua during one of his shifts the only thing that kept him from running away in a mixture of fear and anxiety was that Seungcheol had come with him to keep him from freaking out. So when one of the supervisors in Seungkwan and Seokmin’s program had told him that he had to stay he threw up again. More specifically he threw up on himself, the doctor, whose name he couldn’t remember for the life of him, Seungcheol, and somehow Joshua who was standing the farest away from him to let the doctor work. At least this time that he knew he had thrown up because of his anxiety instead of the virus he had contracted. He was so tired at this point that he couldn’t even be bothered to feel embarrassed for throwing up on everyone. He just let Joshua and Seungcheol clean him while the doctor had excused himself to go and change clothes. He can vaguely remember both of his lovers apologizing profusely on his behalf to the doctor, but that was about it. 

The next thing that he knew he was back in bed in a new change of clothes, or he was in a new hospital gown, while Seungcheol and Joshua were in new pairs of scrubs. In their haste to get out of the hospital they had just gotten stuff for just Jeonghan and had forgotten about themselves. So they had no extra pairs of clothes to change into. They must have either raided Joshua locker since he always kept extra scrubs in his locker, or Seokmin’s or Seungkwan’s since they do the same. Or they were given some extra by the hospital staff. He didn’t really care either way he just found it kind of amusing since the pair that Seungcheol had didn’t fit him at all since they were too tight. Though he did enjoy the way that they had showed off his muscles, and he’s sure that Joshua likes that part too. He was so lost in his own head that it had taken him a few moments to realize that his name was being called. “Hmmm…..” He answered not really sure who he was talking to at the moment. “Hey baby,” Oh, so it was Joshua. “How are you doing?” He asked him. And his voice’s tone was so soft and gentle that Jeonghan kind of had a hard time hearing him. “Mmmmm… I… don’t.. I don’t know…..” He giggled. And it kind of freaked him out hearing his own voice, since is sounded so raspy because of all of the vomiting that he had done. He jumped a little bit when he felt a hand come down on his shoulder, he turned his head and saw Seungcheol standing next to the bed on his other side. “Mmmmhh….., Hi Cheollie,.. What are you doing here?” He asked him. He didn’t really remember where he was at the moment or why Seungcheol was here.. He knew why Joshua was here, he worked here so that explained why he was here, but Seungcheol didn’t work at the hospital so Jeonghan was really confused. “Hannie, baby, do you remember why or how you got here?” Seungcheol questioned him. Jeonghan had also noticed the look of worry on his face, and he didn’t like it one bit. “Don’t look so upset Cheollie, I don’t like it.” He mumbled. He watched Seungcheol laugh and crack a little smile. Good. That was better, he liked it better when Seungcheol smiled, he looked happier and healthier. “Here you are bedridden in the hospital, and you’re probably feeling completely miserable, and yet here you are still worrying about little old me.” Seungcheol said as he moved to sit down on the edge of the bed. He then reached out and started running his fingers through Jeonghan’s hair. He didn’t notice Joshua until he was already over there, but he crept up behind Seungcheol and wrapped his arms around him from behind. All that Jeonghan could was lay there and smile at his two lovers. It was times like these that he wondered how he got so lucky to end up with such two loving people. He never would have thought that when he was younger that he could ever find someone who would love him besides his sister. He just giggled to himself and fell asleep watching the two people who he loved the most in the world. 

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“Did he just fall asleep mid-sentence?” Seungcheol questioned Joshua as he was moving back to the hospital room’s chair to give Jeonghan more room on the bed. “Yep, he did.” Joshua said with a laugh as he was moving around the room tidying up a bit. Even though the room didn’t need it since they had already cleaned up what puke didn’t make it on them, which wasn’t a whole lot. Seungcheol knew he just needed something to do with his hands to help him calm down a bit so that he can relax his anxious mind. It was a quirk that he shared with Jeonghan, that Seungcheol had noticed with them over the years that they had known each other. When in high stress or in highly emotional situations the two of them needed something to do to keep them calm and relaxed. Joshua would normally go around and clean the whole apartment, or the area he was in at the time. With him being the OCD person that he is, Joshua almost always needs something to do with his hands to keep him from going crazy. So he cleaned to make himself feel more in control of the situation. While Jeonghan on the other hand, went into full mother-hen mode. Any dongsang and or lover that was in his vacinity would face his wrath. Well more like if you were there near Jeonghan during that time then he would freak out about you. He would bug you 24/7 until one of three things would happen. The first one is that he would leave you alone once he thought that you were ok in his mind. The second is that whatever the stressor for the freak out would be over and everything would go back to normal. (Running wasn’t an option, Chan had tried that many times before since Jeonghan tended to latch onto him during times of stress if Seungcheol or Joshua weren’t there, he could never escape.) And the third option, which happened most of the time was that he would work himself up so bad that he would just sort of crash in the middle of it all, and would sleep until everything returned back to normal. Now, don’t get him wrong, Seungcheol loved both of his lovers very much, but there were sometimes that they drove him crazy, especially when they doubled teamed him in times of stress. He loved them with his whole heart, but sometimes he liked having a little bit of peace and quiet, or breaking up a fight between Mingyu and Minghao sounded good. 

“How are you holding up Seungcheol?” Joshua’s voice is what broke him out of his stupor and back to the real world. “Really Josh, you’re asking me if I’m ok? Honestly, I can’t believe you and Hannie sometimes, I mean here he is bedridden and sick as a dog in a hospital and the first thing that he does when he wakes up is to worry about me, and you’ve been pulling doubles here all week on top of classes and homework, along with all of this so I know that you haven’t been sleeping at all and you need your rest because you have to work again tomorrow.” Seungcheol told him as he got out of his chair and walked around to the other side of the room where Joshua was. “I don’t mean to sound mean about this, but you need to rest Shua, we, I don’t need you out of commission too. And I can tell you right now if Hannie got you as his new roommate in here, he’d kill you before the orderlies could stop him.” Joshua laughed a little at that, and went to hug Seungcheol around the neck. “I love you.” He mumbled into Seungcheol’s neck. “I love you too Shua, I love both of you so much you don’t even know.” Seungcheol whispered into his ear. They both turned around to look at the hospital bed. There was no doubt in their minds that Jeonghan would get over this at some point, but it’s what comes after this was what worried them. They both knew that Jeonghan’s demons from his past were up to their old tricks again. The damage that they had caused last time was really bad, and it had gotten to the point that they thought that they would lose Jeonghan for forever. They really don’t want that to happen again. 

“He’ll be okay, right?” Joshua had asked him. And Seungcheol knew that he wasn’t talking about the bug that Hannie had picked up. They were talking about Hannie’s mental state, and his anxiety and hope that nothing bad will happen to him. Seungcheol had wrapped his arm tighter around Joshua’s waist and brought him in closer. He leant down and kissed the top of his head. “I can’t promise you anything at the moment, but I know that I can assure that between all 12 of us, we won’t let Hannie give up on us so easily. He may be stubborn, but after the scare that he gave Hao, I can tell you for sure that he won’t let Hannie do anything stupid.” Seungcheol told. Joshua nodded in agreement into his shoulder, and wrap his arms around his chest. “I hope that you’re right Cheollie, I just worry about him, he’s starting to act like he did when we first got together, and I don’t know what to do to help him.” Joshua confessed to him. “Don’t worry, everything’s going to work out for us in the end, now why don’t you go and lay down, I know you have a big day tomorrow.” Seungcheol told him as he moved Joshua into the chair next to the bed that he was sitting in earlier. They had two chairs in the room. The recliner, and a plastic one. He made Joshua take the recliner, because it was more comfortable, and closer to the bed than the dinky little plastic one was. “What about you?” Joshua asked, as Seungcheol began to tuck him into the chair. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine, I took a nap before the meeting earlier, and I’m too wired to sleep now anyway.” Seungcheol told him as he kissed his forehead go night. After he had Joshua taken care of he walked over to the other side of the hospital bed to kiss Jeonghan on the forehead before going to sit in his little plastic chair. 

Once he made sure that Joshua and Jeonghan were taken care of, he decided to go ahead and check on the rest of the group while he was at it. He knew that he wouldn’t be sleeping any tonight, so he figured that he might as well be somewhat productive. He decided to text the 96 line first to see what was going on. 

**_Group Message- S.Coups, to Wonwoo, Jun, Woozi, Hoshi_ **

**S.Coups: Hey, just checking in with everyone, to see how things are and to give an update. They have Jeonghan hooked up to an IV for fluids, and he’s only thrown up once since we’ve been here. Though I think that was more to due with his anxiety over staying a few days in the hospital for observation, rather than the stomach virus that the doctors said he caught.**

**Wonwoo: Things have calmed down a bit since you guys left Hyung. Jun and Hoshi took care of the kids, along with Vernon, and got everyone calmed down for the most part. Vernon has Kwanie sleeping with him tonight, Woozi has DK and he doesn’t really know what to do with him, Hoshi’s got Dino so don’t worry about him. Jun has The8, I don’t know where they went but they’re somewhere together so we’re not too worried about them now at the moment. Though if I don’t see them by morning we’re sicing Seungkwan and Hoshi on them and they better hope they don’t rip them limb from limb after this. And I have Mingyu in my bed, he just sort of walked in the room and flopped down and hasn’t moved ever since. And I’m glad that they have Jeonghan on something to help. And thanks for the update, I hope you can give us some more later.**

**Woozi: Yeah, Hyung, I’m glad to hear that Jeonghan-Hyung is doing better than he was here. We have the rest of the kids under control so far, and Wonwoo’s right Vernon’s been a big help with dealing with everybody. Though I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with DK though. He’s abnormally quiet for him and I have no idea on how to get him to speak. He’s just curled in a ball on my legs and won’t move. HELP!**

**Hoshi: Yay! Woozi! Just rub his back some and pet his hair, and tell him that him the only thing that he has to worry about now is going to sleep so that he can go and check on Jeonghan-Hyung tomorrow since he has a shift that starts at Noon. That should be enough to calm him down so that the two of you can try and sleep. And don’t worry about Dino Hyung, I have him with me, the poor kid finally fell asleep after I laid him down in my bed an hour ago. He was really shaken up about this, but I think I got him calmed down enough for now. He’ll do better once he can see Jeonghan-Hyung and he’s able to come home. Yay! And Wen Junhui! You better tell us where you and Hao are or else. We don’t need more people in the hospital! And Jeonghan-Hyung is the only one who could convince Kwanie not to break your legs**

**Jun: And I have Hao with me. Don’t worry Wonwoo we’re on the roof of our apartment building. He snuck out of the house when you guys were dealing with the other kids. He’s still really upset about Jeonghan- Hyung, but I have my eyes on him. He’s just in my lap at this point now. I’ll carry him inside when he falls asleep, which based on his progress now should be any moment now. So you don’t have to sic anyone on us. I’m glad that Jeonghan-Hyung is doing better, and how’s Shua-Hyung?**

**S.Coups: Well, I’m glad to hear that you guys pretty much have everything under control for now. I put Shua to bed so hopefully he’ll get some sleep before his shift tomorrow, we all know that he needs it. Well, I’ll let you all go and get some rest since we all have our hands full. And you guys can come see us tomorrow if you want, just text before hand so that Hannie won’t get mad that he was given no time to fix his hair.**

**Jun: Don’t worry we will Hyung! Just don’t forget to take care of yourself too. And tell everyone we said hi! Good night everyone Hao finally fell asleep so I better get him in before he gets sick too.**

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After the 95 line had rushed out to get Jeonghan out of the apartment and to the hospital, was when everything went into complete chaos. Minghao had completely lost it and had stormed out of the apartment not that long before Mignyu and Wonwoo came back. And Jun was on his heels as he had run out of the door. Seokmin, and Seungkwan had just started ballin’ their eyes out in the middle of their living room. Though it was surprisingly Vernon to the rescue. He wedged himself between Seokmin and Seungkwan on the couch to hug them and they just flung themselves at him. It was a big mess of tears, snot, and other things. Jihoon himself was just so confused at the scene before him he didn’t know what to do. That was when Hansol had motioned for him to come around and take DK for some one on one time. He gave him a deer caught in the headlights look as an answer. Then Vernon mouthed ‘Do you want Seungkwan?’ Jihoon then went and started to try and coax his dongsang off the couch. Now, don’t get him wrong he loved all of his dongsang equally, it’s just that Jihoon has some trouble connecting with Seungkwan sometimes. Where Jihoon is very calm, introverted and stoic, Seungkwan is the complete opposite. He’s loud, extroverted, and can be very dramatic about any situation when he wants to be. One of the only people that could calm Seungkwan down other than Vernon is Jeonghan, and he really wishes that he was here since Seokmin and Seungkwan always cling to him and Joshua and or Vernon when there’s something wrong. And now Jihoon has to step up and take over for their places now. 

While Woozi and Vernon were dealing with those two, and Jun and Minghao were off somewhere else, Wonwoo and Mingyu finally came back. Mingyu took one look at the scene before him and went back to his room. He looked over at the rest of his group mates and saw all of the younger ones in certain states of distress. And they each had at least 1 Hyung attached to them. Soonyoung had taken over Chan, developing the younger in a hug and rocking him back and forth to calm him down. Wonwoo sighed and looked at Jihoon and Hansol to see if they needed help. They both shook their heads and motioned for him to go look after Mingyu. Since he didn’t see Jun or The8 he assumed that they were together at the moment. He’d worry about that later after he dealt with Mingyu and made sure that he was ok first before he did anything. He just hoped that they can get through the night without another incident.

Then we have poor little Chan, even though Jeonghan and him have no blood relation, he still thinks of him as his brother, or a parental figure. (The one time that he had jokingly called Jeonghan “Mom” he got slap to the side of his head and a very angry death glare. Jeonghan said that he would get him back for that, and going by the smile on his face, Chan didn’t sleep by himself or really at all for a month, before he realized it was a bluff.) And no it’s not just because he’s in a relationship with his older brother. Jeonghan goes above and beyond to help take care of everyone, especially when his brother wasn’t able to step up and do it. It also probably didn’t help that Jeonghan has always been somewhat attached to him since the first time that they had met when he was a child. Jeonghan always made sure that Chan was ok, and he helped him with his homework, despite what people assume about him just by appearances, Jeonghan is actually highly intelligent. He graduated from high school in the 3rd spot in his class. 

Chan can remember not that long after Jeonghan and his brother had graduated high school( When Jeonghan joined them he had reached out to his mother to transfer his school records to Seungcheol’s school so that they could go to school together.) the two of them had gotten into one of the first fights as a sort of couple(They met Joshua about a month later). Chan can remember this like it was yesterday, he had been in his bed when he had heard noise coming from their living of the old run down house that Seungcheol had found for all of them to live in. Since it was almost the start of their summer vacation for his school, and they weren’t doing anything important anymore anyway, Chan had decided to go and investigate what was going on. He can clearly remember tiptoeing past Soonyoung, Jihoon, Sammy, and Wonwoo on his way out of the room. (At the time all of them had slept in one room because the house was so small, and they didn’t even have a whole lot of beds, he can remember sharing a bed with his brother for the longest time, until they moved into another place.) He had stuck his head out of the door and peered into the living room. There he saw his brother and Jeonghan in what seemed to be some sort of heated discussion. He had to strain a little bit to hear what they were saying but they were in within enough distance of his field of vision to be able to read their lips properly. Even though he came into the conversation halfway through he could still get the jist of it. Seungcheol was trying to convince Jeonghan to leave them and go to university somewhere far, far away from them to make a better life for himself. He can remember feeling really upset at his brother for that. Why was he trying to push Jeonghan away? Was he scared that Jeonghan wouldn’t return his feelings for him or something? Now, Chan wasn’t stupid, he may have been one of the youngest people here but he certainly wasn’t stupid, Jeonghan made sure of that. He knew that his older brother was in love with Jeonghan very much, he practically worshipped the ground that he walked on. And he also knew that Jeonghan felt the same way about his older brother that he did about him. But he was sick and tired of them just skirting around the topic and just hopelessly pinning after one another. He can remember wishing every night before he went to bed for them to just wake up one day and realize their feelings. Though that night he knew 1 of three things would happen. The first one would be that maybe Seungcheol and Jeonghan would come to realize their true feelings and end up together and live happily ever after. The second one would be that they would just ignore it until it blows over(which it never would.) And the third one that he wishes wouldn’t come true was that Jeonghan would either get mad or actually listen to his brother for once and leave. He didn’t want that, he really didn’t want hi Hyung to leave him. He knew that Jeonghan was a carrier. Not that long after he joined Seungcheol had sat him down one night before bed and had explained his situation to him and he had told him to treat Jeonghan with the utmost respect since he was still his Hyung and not to treat him any differently than he would normally would. And that information just made him wish that they were get together and have a family already or something. He knew that they loved each other very deeply, but he was confused as to why they weren’t doing anything about it. 

But anyway, back to the whole point of the story. Chan had ended up watching what would later turn out to be the fight that got the two of them together somewhat. The whole entire process of Seungcheol, Jeonghan, and Joshua getting together was a big mess. And this little incident that he witnessed was only one part of it. And he can remember this conversation like it had happened yesterday. 

He had ended up watching the two of them bicker back and forth with for about 15 minutes before he heard them raise their voices a little bit. “Please, just for once, will you put your stupid pride aside and just listen to me!” His brother whispered shouted. “Why?! So you can just kick me out and tell me to leave!” Jeonghan retorted back. Seungcheol sighed as he pushed his hands back through his hair. “No, that’s not what I’m trying to tell you Han.” Seungcheol said as he tried to plead his case with him. And from the looks of it in Chan’s viewpoint his brother was losing, and badly at that. “Fine. Then go on and explain to me why you want me out of here and out of your life for good.” Jeonghan bit out. And never had he ever heard Jeonghan’s tone get that dark and bitter, especially with his brother. “I’m not kicking you out Jeonghan, you know that I would never ever do that to you.” Seungcheol told him. “I’m just trying to convince you to not miss out on an opprotunity, and end up wasting your life away.” “Oh, so you think that I’m wasting my life away being here with you and the rest of the kids?” Jeonghan told him. From what little of his face Chan could tell that his Hyung was beyond pissed off. “Look, I’m not saying anything about that, I’m just telling you that you are so intelligent Hannie, and you have a mind to go on and do great things…” Seungcheol told him as he reached out to touch his arms. Jeonghan flinched back at the touch like it had burned him. “All that I’m saying is you’re smart enough to go to college and make something of yourself, unlike me who barely passed.” Jeonghan sighed and rolled his eyes as he moved closer back towards his brother. “Don’t sell yourself short like that Seungcheol, you aren’t stupid.” Jeonghan told him with a lot of conviction in his voice. Seungcheol just huffed out a laugh and looked down at the ground. “Hannie if it hadn’t have been for you I wouldn’t have graduated this year or at all for that matter.” 

“So that gives you the right to push me away?” Jeonghan questioned him, his tone going back to being angry and closed off. “I just want you to have the best life that you can have in this world, and you can’t do that stuck here with me.” Seungcheol told him. “I’m just only dragging you down Jeonghan, you’re way better than me.” What happened next surprised everyone Chan included, when he just heard this big smack, as Jeonghan had slapped his brother hard across the face. “Don’t…. Don’t you dare ever talk to me like that again, do you hear me Choi Seungcheol,..... Just don’t…” Jeonghan whispered out. “You’re not holding me back, and I know that I can have the best life that I can possibly have here with you and the rest of the kids…. You guys are my family and I love you, all of you, and I’m not leaving no matter what and that’s final, do you hear me?” Jeonghan told him. He could tell by his stance that his brother was in awe of him. In all of the time that they had known Jeonghan, he’s never one for confrontation or anything violent at all. Jeonghan would rather sleep, or just ignore the problem all together and just hoped that it would go away. So it had shocked both of the brothers that he would do something so bold and brash. 

“Seungcheol,... Seungcheol answer me you ass! Just don’t stand there and stare at ……” Jeonghan had got cut off from his little rant when all of a sudden Seungcheol had surged forward and had wrapped his arms around him and kissed him. Chan can remember his eyes going big as saucers as he watched the scene unfold before him. And he could tell that by Jeonghan’s facial expression he too was shocked by the action. And that was a very hard thing to do with him since he’s such a good lair. After the shock of the whole thing wore off, Jeonghan had closed his eyes and had started to kiss his brother back. When the two of them had finally broken away from each other they just stared at each other for the longest time. It was his brother who finally broke the silence. “Does that answer your question?” Seungcheol asked him, a little bit breathless. Jeonghan just shook his head without saying a single word. Which Chan would have guessed would be a first for him since Jeonghan is highly known for putting in his two cents in any situation regardless of rather he needed to or not. “I don’t know, …. I think that I need just a little bit more convincing answer.” Jeonghan said with a smug smile on his face. Seungcheol just laughed and leaned in closer to him. “I think that I can manage that.” He said and leaned in for another kiss. And that was when Chan ran back into the bedroom to his bed and went to sleep. To this day neither one of them have figured out that he has known about that. But getting back on the topic at hand he really wishes that his Hyung would be ok. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Once they had gotten Jeonghan out of the apartment to take him to the hospital, Minghao gave them about 5 minutes until he ran out of the place like he was set on fire. He just needed to get out of there for a little bit and get some air. He just needed somewhere he could breathe just a little bit easier. Watching Jeonghan suffer so much just ate at him. He had never seen something so scary before in his life anymore. Growing up in the environment that he did in China really messed up with his social skills. He had never been in a good family situation ever since he was a mere pre-teen. 

When Minghao was young he had a fairly happy childhood with his mother and father. It was only just the three of them since he was an only child. They lived out in the outskirts in the country. Him and his family lived a very comfortable life until he was about 6. That was when his father had disappeared. His father had worked in the city and he would be gone for long stretches of time so he never had a whole lot of time to spend with his family. One day though, he just went to work like normal. He snuck into his room when he was still asleep to kiss his son on the forehead, trying not to wake him up which never worked. He would kiss Minghao and then he would beg his father to stay just a little bit longer each and every time he had to do that. His father would smile sadly at him and pat his and tell him. “Don’t worry about a thing my Little’8, ok?” He would tell him. “I’ll be back before you know it, and you probably won’t miss me at all it’ll go by so fast.” And then Minghao would squawk and say that of course he’d miss him, he’s his father. Then he went downstairs to kiss his mother goodbye as she handed him his lunch for the with a kiss, and a whispered “Come back to me, you promised.” He never quite understood what she meant by that. He had asked his mother one time after his father had left for work for the month and she just told him that it was something that she always said to him to make sure that he would come back, and then told him to go back to playing. He thought nothing of it at the time and went back to his toys. It wouldn’t be until weeks later when his father was a week late getting home that there would be a knock at the door. Minghao was in their living room playing a little bit just before he would go to bed that night, when his mother went to answer the door. He can still remember hearing the click of the door opening and then seconds later he heard his mother screaming. Panicked at what could have happened to her, he rushed out of the living room to the entryway to see if she was ok. When he had gotten there he saw these two very large men standing in there doorway. They were big and scary and looked absolutely terrifying to him at the time since he was so little. And his mother was on her knees on the ground in front of them crying her eyes out. With his fear forgotten over his mother’s distress little Minghao had rushed over to his crying mother and had hugged her. She just gripped him and hugged him harder as she cried. Even though he was upset and confused over his mother’s distress. Though he didn’t miss the way that the two men were staring at him, watching him, and the way that one of them smiled at him showing off all of his false gold teeth that he had. It sent shivers down his spine even today just thinking about it. 

Later on his mother would set him down and explain to him that his father wouldn’t becoming home. When he had asked her why, she said that he had moved on to a better place and that he would be waiting on them when the time was right for them to meet again. As he grew older he would come to realize that his father had died. He didn’t know how, his mother was always very vague in her responses, she just said that it was a work related incident. It was an incident, never an accident like you hear happen on the tv. The two of them still continued on with their lives though. His mother made a living washing and tailoring clothes, babysitting, and cleaning houses. While Minghao had taken a liking to dance, specifically b-boying which he had learned from a friend’s older brother. And martial arts, that was a very big thing for him. He had excelled fairly quick at it and rose to the top ranks of his class very quickly. Though he had no idea that his martial arts skills would change his life forever. 

When he was about 9 years old he participated in a local martial arts competition. There was nothing different about this, it was the same as any other one that he had been in before. But yet he had a feeling about this one that was different than any of the others. When he had informed his mother about this on the way there she had just looked at him and told him not to worry about any of it, and that he would do great. He stupidly believed her and went on his merry way to compete. And surprise, surprise, he was the one who won it for his age division. He was very proud of himself for, like he was at any other competition that he did. He can remember coming off of the mats and going to look for his mother when he saw them again. The two men that had showed up at his doorstep three years ago when his father had died. And that same wave of bone chilling fear overtook his body again as he saw them with his mother. She was arguing with them, the easiest way to put it was that she was pissed off at them, and with how easy going his mother was it was very hard to piss her off that much if at all. And he can remember one of the two goons catching his eye and brushing past his partner and his mother to come to him. And he can remember standing there frozen in fear at what they were going to do to him. 

They had told him that they were friends of his father, and that they were scouts for a very well known martial arts school that he had never heard of. And they had told him that they had came to a few of his other matches and watched how good he was and wanted him to join. He had asked them what his mother thought of the idea. That was when his mother and the other goon came into the conversation. “Oh, she’s totally on board with the idea.” The big fat one had told him. He looked to his mother for conformation but she just looked at him with concern and sadness in her eyes and hesitantly nodded her head yes. He was told that the option was up to him, but he could also tell that he had no choice but to tell them yes, or else. So that night he went with them, he barely got to tell his mother goodbye before he was pushed into a van and he never saw her again. 

He ended up spending a little over 6 years in that so called “school” of theirs. He still wasn’t sure who the person in charge of it was, but he knew that it wasn’t any martial arts school. It was a school for criminals. FIghting, stealing, plotting, hacking, and…. Even murder….. You name it they taught it. There Minghao was trained to be a thief and an assassion. He hated it there, but he was always too scared to leave. They had guards posted at every exit and entrance, and they were all heavily armed. And he wasn’t the only child there, there were hundreds of them there, all being trained to be the next top killer. At that time Minghao had just given up and resigned himself to his fate for lack of a better world. He kept to himself, and didn’t dare interact with anyone else who tried to approach him unless they were one of the “instructors.” He knew that they were probably put them up against each other in a kill match at some point and he didn’t want to end up having to kill someone he was close to or be killed by them. He was really prepared to just go on with whatever they assigned him to do until he was killed. Though that all changed after the last trial that he was put through just before his 15th birthday. After that he just couldn’t do it anymore and fled in the middle of the night not that long after. 

He was on his own for a little over a year before SEVENTEEN found him. He was working a job for a client when had ran into Hoshi in the vents on his way out and they had gotten into it. He won and got away but what he wasn’t expecting was someone from his past to come looking for him. He had remembered Jun from his time there, he knew that he was older and was a very skilled and trained fighter. He also knew that he was one of the kids that was trained to be a hitman. At that moment he had thought that they had finally tracked him down after he defected and had sent Jun to kill him. Jun had managed to track him down to one of his safehouses that he had acquired, and had snuck in while he was out. He really thought that he was done for at that moment. “What do you want from me?” Minghao remembered asking him. “Are you here to kill me?” Jun had shook his head and stepped forward towards him. “I’m not here to harm you at all, I just want to talk to you.” Jun had told him with his hands up showing that he was non-threatening. It took him over three months before he finally caved and had agreed to go and live with Jun and his new team. 

Not that long after he had arrived there did he make a new discovery. Turns out that he was some sort of carrier, at first he didn’t know what that had meant since he was never taught anything about biology or social interaction. All that he found out when he had borrowed Woozi’s computer to search it on the internet was that he was sort of like a woman, and he kinda wasn’t. All that he knew was that it was very confusing to him, and he was very scared at what the rest of the people that he currently lived with would think. He can remember panicking about what they would do to him if they found out and ways to hide it. And not being a very techy person to begin with, he didn’t know he had to clear the browser history so that no one could see what he was researching. Later on that day when Woozi logged on to work on something for Seungcheol for their next job he had found it by accident. He at first had thought that Jeonghan had gotten ahold of his computer and was looking up something to help him make his cycles more bearable. He had tracked him down and had asked him about and Jeonghan had said that he didn’t know what he was talking about. Then it had dawned on him that he had let Minghao use his computer earlier in the day and put two and two together. Jeonghan had picked up on his train of thought and asked him who it was. When had learned that it was their newest addition to their team he had made it his mission to go and make sure that the boy was ok. And that night he had walked into the room when Minghao was alone and had sat him down for a chat about it. He had told him that he too was a carrier and that it was nothing for him to be ashamed of and that it was ok and that nobody would think of him differently or try to kick him out.. He told him the gist of what he would experience every month and that if he needed any help or supplies to just come and talk to him. It was then that he had realized that he could trust these new people that he had met. And maybe just maybe they could be the new family that he never had. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

He knew where he was going the minute that he had ran out of the apartment. If one knew Minghao like he and everyone else on the team knew him, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out where he goes when he’s upset. And was right about the fact that he had gone up to the roof to be alone. Though with the way that he had reacted that it wasn’t a good idea to let him be alone for long periods of time. So he went and followed him out to the rooftop of their apartment building to make sure that he was ok and wouldn’t do something stupid. And he knew how close him and Jeonghan are, and how seeing someone that he was so close too, and he looked up too just lose it like he did, it just messed with you. And he knew who Minghao got when his emotions came into the thick of things, he’d slam his walls up so hard so fast that it’d break the sound barrier. 

“Come here often?” Jun joked as he sat down beside him on the edge of the roof. He stared out over the side of the building and just watch the night scene of Seoul below. It really amazed him sometimes just how beautiful where he is now, and how happy he is that he had left his old life behind in China and fled here when he escaped the “School” as he called it. “Was that meant to be a joke or a lame excuse to get me to talk to you about my feelings?” Minghao bit out. Well, at least he could tell that the walls weren’t all the way up yet. At the beginning when they had first recruited him, Minghao wouldn’t talk to anybody but Jun, and later on Jeonghan before warming up to everyone else. Though Jun wouldn’t really call it talking, he’d describe it more like Jun would try to talk and Hao would punch him in the face. They’ve come along way from when they first started out. They had grown closer, and Minghao had eventually come to trust him and feel comfortable around him. “Well, I thought it was funny.” Jun said as he turned his head to look at his dongsang. Minghao just stared at him coldly and didn’t even smile. “Aw, come on HaoHao, lighten up a little bit will you!” Jun tried again. And he could have sworn that he saw The8 holding back some tears as he was trying to talk to him without screaming in his face. “H-How, can,.... How can you be so damn happy about this…..” Minghao told him softly. “Jeonghan-Hyung is in the hospital, that’s not a good thing the last time that I checked into it, and you’re here joking around, and laughing it off like it’s nothing when it’s serious and he might not come back..” Jun was quiet for a few minutes before he spoke again. And the thief could tell that the hitter was taking his time to choose his words carefully to reason with him. “I’m sorry if you thought that I was making a big joke out of it all Hao.” Jun apologized. “I know that this is serious, and worried about Hyung too, but the only reason that I’m making jokes is to make you feel better.” The8 just looked at him for a few moments. “I know how close you and Joeonghan-Hyung are and I know that you saw what happened first hand and that it really freaked out, I’m just trying to cheer you up abit and make sure that you’re ok.” Jun explained to him. 

“I’m sorry too Jun-Hyung, I didn’t mean to snap at you, it’s… it’s just…” Minghao trailed off and Jun could tell by his expression that he was frustrated that he couldn’t convey what he was feelings with words. “It’s just that what you saw scared you a lot, and seeing Hyung so vulnerable freaked you out and now you’re really worried that he might not be able to get well and come home.” Jun continued. Minghao shook his head and leaned in closer to be next to Jun. Jun went and wrapped an arm around him and pulled the other Chinese man into his lap. “It’ll be ok Hao.” Jun whispered into his brown hair. “I know you’re worried but you forgot one very important thing.” Jun told him. “What’s that Hyung?” The8 questioned as he moved his head to look up Jun. “Why, my dear dongsang you have forgotten that out Jeonghan-Hyung is the ultimate mom friend, and even a team up between Godzilla, King Kong, and the devil himself aren’t enough to keep him away from taking care of and nagging us.” Jun told him. Minghao just laughed at that and put his head back to where it was resting underneath Jun’s chin. A few minutes after that Jun felt Minghao’s breath hitch as the younger began to sob. “Sshhh...Hao, it’s ok, everything’s going to be okay.” Jun said as he was comforting him. 

Jun wasn’t really sure how long that they had been outside when he felt his phone vibrating in his pants pocket. He pulled it out to check and see if one of the others needed him back inside to help with something. He saw that the notification was from Seungcheol, updating about Jeonghan’s condition, and checking on them to see if they needed anything. 

**_Group Message- S.Coups, to Wonwoo, Jun, Woozi, Hoshi_ **

**S.Coups: Hey, just checking in with everyone, to see how things are and to give an update. They have Jeonghan hooked up to an IV for fluids, and he’s only thrown up once since we’ve been here. Though I think that was more to due with his anxiety over staying a few days in the hospital for observation, rather than the stomach virus that the doctors said he caught.**

**Wonwoo: Things have calmed down a bit since you guys left Hyung. Jun and Hoshi took care of the kids, along with Vernon, and got everyone calmed down for the most part. Vernon has Kwanie sleeping with him tonight, Woozi has DK and he doesn’t really know what to do with him, Hoshi’s got Dino so don’t worry about him. Jun has The8, I don’t know where they went but they’re somewhere together so we’re not too worried about them now at the moment. Though if I don’t see them by morning we’re sicing Seungkwan and Hoshi on them and they better hope they don’t rip them limb from limb after this. And I have Mingyu in my bed, he just sort of walked in the room and flopped down and hasn’t moved ever since. And I’m glad that they have Jeonghan on something to help. And thanks for the update, I hope you can give us some more later.**

**Woozi: Yeah, Hyung, I’m glad to hear that Jeonghan-Hyung is doing better than he was here. We have the rest of the kids under control so far, and Wonwoo’s right Vernon’s been a big help with dealing with everybody. Though I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with DK though. He’s abnormally quiet for him and I have no idea on how to get him to speak. He’s just curled in a ball on my legs and won’t move. HELP!**

**Hoshi: Yay! Woozi! Just rub his back some and pet his hair, and tell him that him the only thing that he has to worry about now is going to sleep so that he can go and check on Jeonghan-Hyung tomorrow since he has a shift that starts at Noon. That should be enough to calm him down so that the two of you can try and sleep. And don’t worry about Dino Hyung, I have him with me, the poor kid finally fell asleep after I laid him down in my bed an hour ago. He was really shaken up about this, but I think I got him calmed down enough for now. He’ll do better once he can see Jeonghan-Hyung and he’s able to come home. Yay! And Wen Junhui! You better tell us where you and Hao are or else. We don’t need more people in the hospital! And Jeonghan-Hyung is the only one who could convince Kwanie not to break your legs**

Jun smiled to himself at his friend’s antics. He guessed that he better go ahead and answer them before they all rallied together to send out a search party for him and Minghao. He just really didn’t want to josile Minghao too much in fear of waking him up. He knew that watching Jeonghan break down like that really scared him, and it took a lot out of him. Jun also knew that he hadn’t been sleeping well the past few nights, and that he really needed the sleep. 

**Jun: And I have Hao with me. Don’t worry Wonwoo we’re on the roof of our apartment building. He snuck out of the house when you guys were dealing with the other kids. He’s still really upset about Jeonghan- Hyung, but I have my eyes on him. He’s just in my lap at this point now. I’ll carry him inside when he falls asleep, which based on his progress now should be any moment now. So you don’t have to sic anyone on us. I’m glad that Jeonghan-Hyung is doing better, and how’s Shua-Hyung?**

**S.Coups: Well, I’m glad to hear that you guys pretty much have everything under control for now. I put Shua to bed so hopefully he’ll get some sleep before his shift tomorrow, we all know that he needs it. Well, I’ll let you all go and get some rest since we all have our hands full. And you guys can come see us tomorrow if you want, just text before hand so that Hannie won’t get mad that he was given no time to fix his hair.**

**Jun: Don’t worry we will Hyung! Just don’t forget to take care of yourself too. And tell everyone we said hi! Good night everyone Hao finally fell asleep so I better get him in before he gets sick too.**

Jun smiled to himself as he put his phone back into his pocket so that he could pick up Minghao and carry him back into the apartment. He took his time so that he wouldn’t wake the sleeping thief, and they eventually made it back inside the comfort of their own home. It was a little bit tricky to get him into the apartment without either dropping Minghao or waking everyone else up in the building, but he made it. And hopefully things will start to look for them soon. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Wonwoo sighed as he walked into the room that he shared with the rest of the 96 liners. When he walked into the room he was met with the sight of Mingyu laying face down on top of his bed. At first he had thought that he was asleep because of how motionless he was being. Though his breathing pattern gave him away. He walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. “He’s going to be okay, you know that right Gyu?” Wonwoo asked as he went and rubbed his hand up and down his dongsang’s back. Mingyu didn’t offer a reply and just shrugged his shoulders up and down. “I know that even though the two of you don’t see eye to eye all the time, you still worry a lot about Jeonghan-Hyung.” Wonwoo said. He was still met with no reply. Wonwoo sighed and rolled his eyes at Mingyu. “Come on get up and talk to me Kim Mingyu.” Wonwoo said as he started manhandling his dongsang into a sitting position. Once he got him up and facing him he saw how utterly defeated he looked. This was going to be a long night. 

The two of them just sat there for a few moments before Mingyu just busted out into tears and launched himself at Wonwoo. Before he knew it he was wrapped up in a big bear hug and had a lap full of Mingyu to deal with. The two of them sat there for Wonwoo didn’t know how long trying to comfort Mingyu to almost no avail. He didn’t know what to do anymore, all of the tricks that normally worked on Mingyu didn’t this time. He thought that Mignyu would be up crying all night when he spoke up unexpectedly. “Is Jeonghan-Hyung going to be ok?” Mingyu had asked him. And his was still a mess from all of the crying that he did it was a little hard to understand him at first. Wonwoo sighed and rubbed his back before he gave him a reply. “Hyung is going to be just fine Gyu-ah.” Wonwoo told him. “You know Hyung he wouldn’t let anything stop him from being here to annoy and nag every single one of us.” Wonwoo told him with a laugh. That got a small little chuckle out of him. “Okay, now that you’re laughing at me will you get off my lap, I’m starting to lose the feeling in my legs.”

The two of them just ended up staying up for a little while until Wonwoo’s phone went off. “Who’s that Hyung?” Mingyu asked him. He leaned over his shoulder to try and read the texts that Wonwoo was getting. “Nosey.” Wonwoo told him as he shoved him back a little bit so that he could still have some sort of privacy. “It’s just Seungcheol-Hyung giving an update on Jeonghan-Hyung and checking up on us.” Wonwoo said as he showed him the text, before he went back to texting with their leader. 

**_Group Message- S.Coups, to Wonwoo, Jun, Woozi, Hoshi_ **

**S.Coups: Hey, just checking in with everyone, to see how things are and to give an update. They have Jeonghan hooked up to an IV for fluids, and he’s only thrown up once since we’ve been here. Though I think that was more to due with his anxiety over staying a few days in the hospital for observation, rather than the stomach virus that the doctors said he caught.**

**Wonwoo: Things have calmed down a bit since you guys left Hyung. Jun and Hoshi took care of the kids, along with Vernon, and got everyone calmed down for the most part. Vernon has Kwanie sleeping with him tonight, Woozi has DK and he doesn’t really know what to do with him, Hoshi’s got Dino so don’t worry about him. Jun has The8, I don’t know where they went but they’re somewhere together so we’re not too worried about them now at the moment. Though if I don’t see them by morning we’re sicing Seungkwan and Hoshi on them and they better hope they don’t rip them limb from limb after this. And I have Mingyu in my bed, he just sort of walked in the room and flopped down and hasn’t moved ever since. And I’m glad that they have Jeonghan on something to help. And thanks for the update, I hope you can give us some more later.**

**Woozi: Yeah, Hyung, I’m glad to hear that Jeonghan-Hyung is doing better than he was here. We have the rest of the kids under control so far, and Wonwoo’s right Vernon’s been a big help with dealing with everybody. Though I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with DK though. He’s abnormally quiet for him and I have no idea on how to get him to speak. He’s just curled in a ball on my legs and won’t move. HELP!**

**Hoshi: Yay! Woozi! Just rub his back some and pet his hair, and tell him that him the only thing that he has to worry about now is going to sleep so that he can go and check on Jeonghan-Hyung tomorrow since he has a shift that starts at Noon. That should be enough to calm him down so that the two of you can try and sleep. And don’t worry about Dino Hyung, I have him with me, the poor kid finally fell asleep after I laid him down in my bed an hour ago. He was really shaken up about this, but I think I got him calmed down enough for now. He’ll do better once he can see Jeonghan-Hyung and he’s able to come home. Yay! And Wen Junhui! You better tell us where you and Hao are or else. We don’t need more people in the hospital! And Jeonghan-Hyung is the only one who could convince Kwanie not to break your legs**

**Jun: And I have Hao with me. Don’t worry Wonwoo we’re on the roof of our apartment building. He snuck out of the house when you guys were dealing with the other kids. He’s still really upset about Jeonghan- Hyung, but I have my eyes on him. He’s just in my lap at this point now. I’ll carry him inside when he falls asleep, which based on his progress now should be any moment now. So you don’t have to sic anyone on us. I’m glad that Jeonghan-Hyung is doing better, and how’s Shua-Hyung?**

**S.Coups: Well, I’m glad to hear that you guys pretty much have everything under control for now. I put Shua to bed so hopefully he’ll get some sleep before his shift tomorrow, we all know that he needs it. Well, I’ll let you all go and get some rest since we all have our hands full. And you guys can come see us tomorrow if you want, just text before hand so that Hannie won’t get mad that he was given no time to fix his hair.**

**Jun: Don’t worry we will Hyung! Just don’t forget to take care of yourself too. And tell everyone we said hi! Good night everyone Hao finally fell asleep so I better get him in before he gets sick too.**

Mingyu just laughed at him. He was glad that the weird conversation between the 96 line and their leader was enough to brighten their mood just a little bit. He leaned over and wrapped his arm around Mingyu’s shoulder and pulled him in for a hug. Mingyu leaned his head on Wonwoo’s shoulder and he eventually fell asleep like that. Wonwoo had moved them up against the backboard of the bed to be more comfortable. Wonwoo himself ended up falling asleep himself in that position. And if he had a smile plastered on his face in the morning when he woke up no one needed to know.

  
  


  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened when Jeonghan isn't there to run things. And how everyone goes nuts without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's bee awhile. I've just been busy with school and life. Now, on to the author's note. I'm posting this chapter and then another work of mine. Then I am going to finish a one-shot I'm doing. Then it's 3 chapters of my Voltron fic. Then coming back to this one, getting it up to 10 chapters. Then going back to Voltron and hopefully finishing that one out completely. After that it's back to this one to finish it out. With the occasional one-shot posted from time to time. That should keep me busy for a while.   
> -N.

Chapter 5 

The first thing that Jeonghan registered when he woke up was the bright light coming in through the window. He squinted his eyes at the harshness of it, he never remembered the light coming in through their bedroom window being that harsh before. Though that was probably because of the black out curtains that Seungcheol and Joshua had chipped in to buy for his birthday last year. He always made sure that they were drawn before he went to bed at night so that he wouldn’t have this problem in the morning and just sleep longer if he wanted to. Which he always did, might he add. He groaned and shifted a little in the bed trying to find a place to get comfortable, hoping to maybe snuggle up with Seugncheol and Joshua a little bit longer before the latter had to go to class. Though it didn’t take long for him to realize that not only was he alone in the bed, it wasn’t his bed at all. He snapped his eyes open and had to ignore the stinging in his eyes from the light and the pounding in his eyes from an intense migraine that he had going on. He groaned softly to himself as he closed his eyes for a minute before he opened them again to take in his surroundings. Blinking his eyes open to where he could clearly see was that he wasn’t in his bedroom in the apartment. Wherever he was white and cleanly and it smelled of antiseptic. It smelled like Joshua after he would come home from a very long shift at the hospital. 

The only explanation for this was that he was in the hospital. But that didn’t make any sense whatsoever. Why was he in the hospital? The last thing that he could remember was being at home in bed cuddling with Minghao. And the next thing that he knew he was here. He had no memory of what happened after that and the more that he tried to remember the more it made his head hurt. He groaned again, a little bit louder this time. And it was only then that he realized exactly how crappy he felt. Everything hurt, his joints and throat were on fire. His head was pounding, stomach in knots, and his ears were ringing a little bit. He felt like he had been run over by a truck and the truck had taken a liking to him and then went and backed over him. He felt absolutely awful and he was still confused on where he was. The only thing that he knew was that he was in pain. He groaned again to himself, and tried to move around in the bed careful of the wires that he just discovered were in his arms. He was just trying to get comfortable when he noticed who was in the chair across from his hospital bed. There fast asleep, with his whole body titled at awkward angles was Seugncheol. Jeonghan laughed softly to himself at his boyfriend, and the amusing position that he was currently in. He could only imagine how worried both Seungcheol and Joshua were him then, since he ended up having to be in the hospital. One of the reasons that Jeonghan knows this is that it isn’t a well kept secret among the members that he has an almost borderline irrational fear of hospitals. He can’t help it and he can’t really explain it either, there’s just always been something about them they sent a wave of fear through him. So whenever someone is hurt or sick he knew that Joshua had tried his best to keep them from going to the hospital unless absolutely nesseccary to keep him from panicking. And small things like that are part of the reason that he thinks that he is beyond lucky to have two warm and loving people like Joshua and Seungcheol as his partners. Sometimes he wonders what he did to deserve such a loving relationship, and he also wonders why he deserves them with how messed up he is. 

With him being so lost in his head at the moment, he hadn’t realized when the door to his room had opened and someone had walked in. “Hannie?” Jeonghan jumped at the sound of his name and flicked his gaze over to the door and saw Joshua standing in the doorway to the room. He was standing there with a happy expression on his face, like he couldn’t believe that what he was seeing before him was real. “Shua,....” Jeonghan rasped. He moved to try and sit himself up in the bed, and Joshua was over by his side in an instant to help him. “Be careful! Don’t try to move around too much, you’re not well.” Joshua scolded as he was trying to get Jeonghan to be laying back down on the bed. Jeonghan huffed out a breath, and rolled his eyes at his lover’s actions. “I’m… I’m fine Joshua, … I’m just a little bit tired, and excuse me for wanting to be able to talk to one of my boyfriends.” Jeonghan sassed him back. Joshua laughed and went to playfully smack his lover on the arm that wasn’t connected to the IV. “Don’t sass me mister, I’m just wanting to make sure that both of my boyfriends are happy and healthy.” “I know that Shua, but that still doesn’t stop me from wanting to actually talk to you for a little bit.” Jeonghan told him. Joshua huffed out a little breath, and reached out to ruffle his boyfriend’s hair. “Stop it.” Jeonghan said as he pushed Joshua’s hand away. “You’re going to mess up my hair.” Joshua just started laughing because that sounded like his old boyfriend. 

It took a little convincing, but Jeonghan had finally gotten Joshua to crawl into the hospital bed with him. Once they got themselves situated and comfortable Jeonghan had cuddled up to Joshua. Joshua huffed out a laugh and wrapped his arm carefully around Jeonghan, trying to be mindful of all of the wires that they had him hooked up to. “Comfy?” He questioned him. “Very, now stop moving Shua.” Jeonghan told him as he cuddled deeper into his chest. The two of them just laid there together in silence for a while. “Ok, now tell me how you’re really feeling?” Joshua asked him. Jeonghan rolled his eyes, but he figured that he might as well indulge his boyfriend to ease his worries and get him off of his back. “I feel relatively ok Joshua, quit worrying will you?” Jeonghan told him. Now it was Joshua’s turn to roll his eyes at him. “Sorry, I know that I’m probably driving you crazy, but I’m just really worried about you.” Joshua told him as he went to kiss the crown of his head. Jeonghan just laughed in response and leaned in to kiss him. “I love you.” He told Joshua. “I love you too Hannie.” “Hey, where’s my kiss?” They heard Seungcheol’s scratchy voice say. The two of them turned their heads to the side and saw that their other lover was not awake. “Hey, Cheol.''Joshua said. Seungcheol nodded his head in agreement, and got up out of the chair to go and sit on the other side of Jeonghan’s bed. He went and kissed Jeonghan on the forehead, and then brushed some of his hair behind his ears. “Hey Cheollie.” Jeonghan said. “Hey baby, how are you feeling?” He asked him. “I’m ok, just tired.” Jeonghan told him. Seungcheol nodded his head and then turned to Joshua. “He’s telling the truth right?” He asked him. “Yes Seungcheol he is.” Jeonghan rolled his eyes at his two lovers and then reached out and smacked Seungcheol on the arm. He gave a loud yelp in return. “Serves you right.” Jeonghan said with a laugh. Well, at least he was starting to act like himself again. 

The three of them spent some more time together until Joshua had to go back to work. He left the two of them with kisses, and told them that he would be back when it was his lunch break. He also warned them that Seokmin had shown up 4 hours early for his shift and would probably burst into the room at some point. He would have done it earlier but Joshua had intercepted him and sent him on a huge list of errands, and then told him to go bug Solar when it was all said and done. And that just left Seungcheol and Jeonghan alone in the room. Seungcheol had taken Joshua’s place on the bed, so that Jeonghan could cuddle up to him. “Have you checked on the kids lately?” Jeonghan had asked him after he had taken a sip of water. He hadn’t eaten anything yet since he woke up, but Joshua had said that it was ok for now since he was hooked up to an IV, but told him that he had to eat something today rather he liked it or not. “I texted with the 96 line last night to check up on them.” Seungcheol told them. “They said that the kids were freaked out and worried about you, but they have things under control.” Jeonghan hummed in response. “What do you mean that they were freaked out?” Jeonghan asked him. “Well, how much do you remember from last night?” “Not a whole lot, the last thing that I remembered was cuddling with you in the morning and you saying that you had a meeting later that day.” Jeonghan told him. Seungcheol shook his head at that. “Well, from what I was told after I left for the meeting you got sick and had a panic attack, Hao tried to calm you down but nothing worked and that’s where everything sort of snowballed from there.” Seungcheol told him. “And then when me and Shua got home we decided to take you to the hospital.” Jeonghan nodded in agreement. “Ok, that makes sense, but you said that the kids got scared, are they ok?” He asked him. “They were freaked out because they’ve never seen you like this before, but Wonwoo and them have everything under control now.” Seungcheol said to reassure them. “Can I have visitors yet?” Jeonghan asked him. Seungcheol sighed, he knew that this is where it was going. “Let’s ask Shua when he comes back.” He told him instead. And as the old saying goes, if looks could kill. This was going to be a long couple of days. 

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Jihoon didn’t know how the 95 line did it. With the 3 of them combined, they are somehow able to keep all of them in line. It was times like these that he was especially grateful that he wasn’t the leader of the group. If the kids didn’t put him in an early grave first, then he would end up going insane and killing them all off. Harsh, he knows, but that’s just the honest truth, especially considering how his morning is going so far. Wonwoo, and him had both set an alarm to get the kids up and ready for the day. They were trying to keep everything as normal as possible to help everyone cope. And they both knew that Jeonghan would murder them all if they let Seokmin and Seungkwan skip class just because he was out of comission. And even though Joshua was also in medical school to become a nurse, and was more inclined to watch over the two of them at school, that’s not how it was done at home. Joshua helped wrangle the two other medical students in the mornings, but it was Jeonghan who packed their lunches(With Mingyu supervising), he was the one who made sure they all left on time for class, and that they did their homework in a somewhat organized fashion. Seungcheol may be the leader of their ragtag team of misfits and what not, but Jeonghan was the one who runs the household, and sometimes with an iron fist, he might add. And Joshua was there to keep everything neat, orderly and stop a mutinity if one were to ever be planned. 

Getting back on track here though. When the alarm went off Jihoon woke up and then realized that not only did he have to get Seokmin up and ready for his shift at the hospital today, he had to get him off of his lap. The thing about Seokmin is that he can be a little clingy at times. It’s nothing bad, but it got a little too much when he was upset or stressed out and just sort of clung on to the first person that he saw. Normally he would go and latch onto Jeonghan and he would take care of him and in about an hour he’d go back to normal. Though this time, not only was Jeonghan not here, he was also the cause of the stress. And that just left Jihoon to comfort him. Which is just a little bit difficult for him since he’s not really a touchy, feely kind of guy to begin with. And this time Seokmin had chosen him as the person to cling to in his time of stress. It took forever but he finally was able to wake Seokmin up and pry him off of his lap. He then walked him out into the kitchen and threw him at Hansol and Seungkwan who were sitting on the couch. And Jihoon himself walked over to the kitchen where Mingyu and Wonwoo were for hopefully some peace and quiet. 

“Where’s Hao and Jun?” Jihoon asked after he took a sip from the cup of coffee Wonwoo handed him. Mingyu was standing at the stove frying eggs and some sort of meat and it smelled absolutely delicious. “They’re still asleep I think,”Mingyu told him. “Hao had it pretty rough last night and he’s wiped out from all of the stress.” Jihoon nodded his head. He knew from what little Jun said in his text last night that The8 was a little bit upset at the fact that his Hyung was in the hospital. He was glad that the poor kid was getting the rest that he deserved. “What about Soon and Channie?” “They were still asleep the last time that I checked on them.” Wonwoo said as he sat down at the kitchen with his book. And even though he had taken the book jacket off of it a long time ago, Jihoon knew which book he was reading. He couldn’t recall the book title he knew that it was one of Wonwoo’s favorites. He was reading the book that Soonyoung had gotten him for his last birthday. He had convinced him to help order it off line and hide it so that Wonwoo couldn’t find it beroe hand. Wonwoo must have read it at least 6or 7 times already and his birthday was months ago. He loved that book and Soonyoung loved the fact that it was his favorite book. It was times like these that made Jihoon wish that the two of them would just get over themselves and get together already. They were driving him crazy! 

Though regardless of whatever he wanted them to do, he knew that they couldn’t rush any of it or it would just make things worse. Soonyoung and Wonwoo were two of the most stubborn people that he had ever met and that’s saying something coming from him. So he just lets it go and he knows that he has to let them go at their own pace. But it still doesn’t change the fact that some days he just wants to smash both of their heads together to get the idea across that they love each other and to just get on with it already. But at the moment he has bigger fish to fry with him and the rest of 96 line being in charge of the household until the 95s get home. 

“Does Seungkwan have classes today?” Jihoon asked. “I think so, I know Seok’s got to go in at 12, but that’s all I know.” Mingyu told him as he finished cooking whatever it was on the stove. “Well, we all know that he’s going to try and ditch so he can go see Hyung when he can have visitors.” Wonwoo said from his place at the table. Jihoon rolled his eyes at him, but he couldn’t help but agree with him. Jeonghan had a tendency to baby everyone younger than him, especially the whole maknae line of their group. Hence, the reason why everyone wants to drop everything and go see him right now, even though they all know that they can’t do anything until they get the ok from their leader. “Well, can’t we just get Hansol to go with him to make sure that he stays and doesn’t try to leave or freak out with how worried he is.” Mingyu suggested. It wasn’t a bad idea and it was something the Jihoon was probably going to convince Hansol to do anyway. The only other person who had the same calming effect on Seungkwan like Jeonghan does is Hansol. Both of them claim it’s because of how close they are and how they’re the same age. But, Jeonghan would tell everyone it’s because they’re in love and are too afraid to do anything about it. Though everyone saw how the two hung around each other and were almost always attached at the hip. Sometimes Jihoon could have sworn that everyone in this house was in love with one another. He was just standing in the middle of the kitchen drinking his coffee until he heard a scream come from the living room. He sighed to himself before he went to walk out. This was going to be a long day. 

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Jeonghan was bored. He was utterly and extremely bored. Life in the hospital, had more to be desired than what he was used to. He would rather be doing anything other than being cooped up in his hospital room. Even though he still has Seungcheol for company and Joshua pops his head in from time to time to check on them. Both of them have been on him since he woke and even though he knows that they’re doing it out of worry and he finds it very endearing, he wants to breathe. They won’t let him do anything. He’s just supposed to lay here in bed and wait until he could go home. Now, don’t get him wrong, he would normally not turn an opportunity like this down, and yes. He still didn’t feel 100%, but he couldn’t take it anymore! He was starting to feel a little claustrophobic at this point and if he didn’t get up and move soon he was going to strangle both of his lovers. He loves them, he really does, but they were driving him insane! The only hope that he had was when the rest of the kids were going to come and visit him. He really missed the little urchins that like to annoy him and drive him nuts. They’re a good group of kids and he would be damned if he ever let anything come to harm any of them. They’re his kids, his family and they’re part of his whole world. 

“Han.”Jeonghan blinked and snapped his attention over to Seungcheol who was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. “What? I’m sorry, did you say something Cheol?” Jeonghan asked him. He felt bad for ignoring his boyfriend but he didn’t do it on purpose, he just zoned out a little bit. He was so freaking bored out of his mind! There was nothing for him to do here at the hospital. He just wanted to go home and be with his family. “Don’t sweat it Babe.” Seungcheol laughed. “I just asked you if you were ok, you looked like you had spaced out on me.” Jeonghan rolled his eyes at him and moved to lay up against the headboard. “I’m ok Cheol, I’m just bored out of my mind, when can I go home?” He asked him. Seungcheol smiled and pushed a few strands of hair back behind his ear. “In a couple of days Han, you were really dehydrated, the doctors and Josh just want to make sure that you’re ok before they send you home.” Seungcheol told him. “And besides you probably don’t feel like yourself at the moment do you?” Jeonghan rolled his eyes at him and sighed. He knew that he was right about it. He still felt awful, not as bad as before, but still pretty crappy. He just really wanted to go home and be with the rest of the group. 

The two of them had sat there for a few more moments in silence before the peace was interrupted when the door flew open and hit the wall with a loud bang! “Damn it Seokmin!” Seungcheol cursed as he turned to the noise and saw that it was Seokmin bursting into the room. “Sorry Seungcheol Hyung!” He shouted as he dashed through the room and over to the bed. “Jeonghan Hyung!” He shouted as he came up to the other side of the bed and threw his arms around him in a big bear hug. “Nice to see you too Seokie.” Jeonghan told him as he was getting the life squeezed out of him. “Can’t breathe.” He wheezed out. “Sorry Hyung, I got a little bit carried away.” He told him. Seokmin stepped back a few feet away from the bed. That was when Jeonghan reached out and grabbed his hand to pull him back to bed. “Nooooo…., Don’t leave me! I’ve been deprived of human contact for days, and I want cuddles from my dongsaengs!” Jeonghan whined as he was trying to get Seokmin back to his hospital bed. Seokmin laughed and went to go and sit on the bed next to his Hyung on the other side. 

“So, how has the 96’s been handling things on the home front?” Seungcheol asked Seokmin. “Well, things were different than they normally are, everyone misses you guys.” Seokmin told him. “But the other Hyungs have been doing ok, I mean Jihoon Hyung did almost try to decapitate Mingyu, but nothing out of the ordinary.” “What do you mean that Jihoon tried to kill Mingyu?!” Seungcheol questioned, slightly alarmed. “Decapitate, not kill.” Seokmin corrected. He was met with a pretty heated glare in return. “Calm down Cheollie,” Jeonghan soothed as he rubbed his hand up and down his boyfriend’s arm. “I’m sure Jihoon was just annoyed at Gyu and that they were able to resolve their issues themselves like the civilized adults that they are.” “Do you really hear yourself talking right now Han?” “Well somebody has to be the voice of reason in this situation, and this time it has to be the ill since no one else will do it.” Jeonghan told him. “Sorry Seok-ah, I know that you would try, but you’re also scared of Jihoonie when he lets his temper get ahead of him.” “Well, you’re not wrong Hyung.” Seokmin said as Seungcheol groaned and face-palmed. 

The three of them spent the next 45 minutes talking and catching up with each other. Seokmin was regailling them of his stories about how he got kicked out of pediatrics for annoying Solar-Noona. He told him that she had given up and told him to go see them after an hour, and that she was going to get Joshua for this. That made Seungcheol and Jeonghan laugh at their dongsaeng’s antics. At some point after Seokmin had started into the jokes that he always told when he was with Seungkwan and Soonyoung Jeonghan had begun to lean in Seungcheol’s side just a little bit. Seungcheol could tell that he was getting tired, but he knew that he wouldn’t say anything since he wanted to spend time with Seokmin since he showed up to work 4 hours early just to see him. They both knew that the whole group was worried about Jeonghan and he was just trying his best to show them all that he was alright. He always put up a front for the kids in hard times to not have them worry so much more than they already were. He was the mother of the group and he always felt that he had to be the one who had to be strong for them all. It’s one of the things that he loved about Jeonghan. It was also one of the things that drove him nuts. 

Jeonghan fell asleep not long after. Seokmin stayed for a few more minutes before he had to leave for his rounds and other medical stuff that Seungcheol couldn’t comprehend. Once he left Seungcheol moved to the side of the bed next to his lover where Seokmin once sat. He sat there and watched him sleep for he wasn’t sure how long. He spent his time brushing stray strands of hair out of Jeonghan’s face, admiring his beauty. Jeonghan has always been one of the most beautiful and attractive people that he has ever known. From the first day that he met him, Seungcheol knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him. And he hoped to do that one day soon with all three of them. Surprisingly for him, even with all that they had been through the last few days he wasn’t that tired, all things considered. The only night that he had some semblance of a good night’s rest was the night before. And that was in a crappy hospital chair. Though that’s probably because he’s been so high on adrenaline that nothing could bother him or what. He just didn’t know, all that he did know was that he had to make sure that Jeonghan, Joshua and the rest of the members were alright. And he still had to work on a plan of action for their next client. Huh,... Well things could be way worse than they actually were. 

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Not long after they all had breakfast, Mingyu went to go and check on Minghao. The apartment that they lived in had 4 bedrooms, once which was turned into Jihoon and Wonwoo’s office. The 95 line got one room to themselves, nobody argued about that one. The second bedroom had Jun, Minghao, Chan, and Soonyoung and Seokmin. And the third bedroom had Wonwoo, Hansol, Seungkwan, and Mingyu himself, along with Jihoon who slept most of the time in his office. And Mingyu knew that when Jun came out of the bedroom that Minghao was alone in there. He went up to his Hyung to ask him what was wrong and he told him that the Chinese thief was still asleep. Mingyu told him that he would go in and check on him to make sure that he was alright. Junhui nodded and made his way to the kitchen to try and comfort a very stressed out Jihoon who was about two seconds away from hitting Soonyoung in the head with a vase. 

When he came to the door that he knew his friend was hiding behind, Mingyu knew that he should at least knock so that he can’t get yelled at for barging into the room like he normally does. After he knocked he waited a few minutes to see if he got an answer before he barged in to check on his friend. When he got no answer, he just assumed that either Minghao was asleep or just ignoring him. Regardless he was going in rather his friend liked it or not. He grabbed the door knob and twisted it open and poked his head inside. From what he could see his guesses could go either way. Minghao was laying down on the bed with his back to the door. He looked to be asleep, but Mingyu also knew him well enough to know that there was a high chance that he was just faking it so people would leave him alone. 

Another thing that Mingyu was aware of was how affected Minghao was seeing their Hyung in such an awful state. Though he would never show it most of the time, Minghao cared very deeply for all of the members and he would be devastated if anything were to ever happen to them. He really wasn’t a very touchy-feely person and showed his love more through small actions than anything else. And Mingyu liked that about him, this was part of Minghao’s charm to him, and he loved that quirk about his best friend. So he knew that Minghao just sort of shut down when something bad happened. He would become even more closed off and moody, and snappish than he already was. Mingyu could never quite figure out if this was the result from Hao’s time with the “Agency” back in China or not, but he knew that it just transformed his friend into a different person when he got like this. Which had led to a lot of fights for their relationship over rather he should talk about his feelings or not. And none of them had ended very well. 

Mingyu proceeded to walk into the room and sat down on the bed, and started rubbing his hand up and down Minghao’s back. He did that repeatedly for a few minutes until he got a grunt from the man laying down on the bed. “Stop itt….You know when you do that it puts me to sleep.” Minghao mumbled into his pillow. Mingyu smiled to himself and huffed out a laugh at his friend’s dramatic antics. “Calm down Drama Queen, I just wanted to check and see if you were awake or not.” Mingyu told him. “Are you even going to turn around to face me or what?” Minghao huffed and rolled over in the bed to where he was able to see Mingyu. “Happy now?” He snapped at him. Mingyu just smiled and nodded his yes. “Why but of course! Now, I get to see that pretty smile of yours in full view.” Minghao smacked him on the chest for that remark. “Ow! Hao, that hurt, don’t be mean!” Mingyu whined to him. “Oh, quit being over dramatic you big baby it didn’t hurt that bad.” Minghao told him. Mingyu just pouted in response and Mingaho rolled his eyes at him. 

At some point since he came into the room Mingyu ended up laying down on the bed with Minghao. It was a tight squeeze for both of them since Mingyu was so tall, but that made it work. When they got settled they just laid there in silence for a while until Mingyu, shockingly broke the silence. “Are you ok?” He asked him. Minghao raised his eyebrow at him in question. “What do you mean, ‘Are you ok’, I’m perfectly fine Gyu.” He told him. “Really, well the panic attack that Jun-Hyung told Wonwoo-Hyung you had last night after you ran out of the house and the fact that you haven’t let the bed all day begs to differ with your statement.” Mingyu told him. If looks could kill then Mingyu himself would be dead. He ignored the heated glare that was being directed at him and pressed on with his mission. “Cut the crap Xu, you and I both know that seeing Jeonghan-Hyung like that freaked you out to no end, and that it shook you up really bad.” Mingyu informed him. “Now, tell me honestly Hao, are you ok, or are you just pretending that you are so you don’t have to deal with your emotions?” A few moments of silence passed before he got an answer out of the Chinese thief. And the answer that he got really surprised him. 

“I thought that he was going to die at one point.” Minghao whispered out. Mingyu just stared at him in shock for a moment. He knew that Minghao was freaked out by the whole thing but he didn’t know that it was that bad. Though Minghao while he’s good at schooling his emotions into a blank slate, which really helped them out in missions, he was also very bad about thinking up the worst scenarios possible. And that leads them to situations like this. “What made you think that Hyung was going to die?” Mingyu asked him. “You know that Shua-Hyung was here and that he would have never let that happen.” “I know that, dammit I know that Shua-Hyung would never let Jeonghan-Hyung die on us1” Minghao yelled at him “I was just so scared,... I’ve never seen him like that before, and the last time that I ....” He trailed off as the tears started streaming down his face. Mingyu moved over closer on the bed so that he could wrap his friend up in his arms in a comforting hug. “Shh…. It’s ok HaoHao, it’s ok, Hyung’s ok he’s in the hospital with the medical treatment needed to make him well again.” Mingyu told him. “It’s ok, Hyung’s going to be just fine and he’s going to come home soon.” 

The8 took a deep breath before he started talking again. “In the front of my mind I know that.” Minghao told him. “I know that I was probably overreacting, but I can still remember things from my time in the ‘Agency’`.'' He told Mingyu. “When I first got there and before I met Jun-Hyung for the first time I met someone else. I never knew his name, he would never tell me, the only thing that I knew was that I was supposed to call him Ge, because he was older than me.” Minghao said. “But he sort of took me under his wing when I first started out, he always use to tell me that ‘The bastards have gone too far now, taking kids like you, ripping them from their mother’s arms just so that they can get more bodies in this place’, I never knew if he meant more people to train, or more people to kill. Though he never said anything and I was too scared to ask him.” He took a few seconds to collect his thoughts and take a few to stop the tears from falling down his face. Mingyu reached out his hand and started to dry the tears off of his friend’s face. “You don’t have to go one Hao, I know that it’s hard for both you and Jun-Hyung to talk about your time there, you don’t have to go on.” Minghao smiled gently at him, and it was the first time that Mingyu had seen him smile in almost a month. “I know that I don’t and I know that you won’t make me do anything that I don’t want to do, but...I’ve kept these memories to myself for years, and I know that the only way for me to move on is to share them with someone that I trust completely other Junhui-ge, and that’s you Gyu.” He whispered. And if Mingyu wasn’t lying in a position where he could see his face he probably wouldn’t be able to hear him. That last part made something flutter in Mingyu’s stomach. He couldn’t quite pinpoint what that exactly meant. “Alright,”Mingyu told him. “If you want to go on and tell the do it, but don’t be afraid to stop if you have to ok.” Minghao nodded his head into Mingyu’s chest. He pulled back a little bit from him so that he could talk clearly so that Mingyu would be able to understand him. “Um, when I was there for almost a year I think it was, uh Ge got sick…” Minghao said. “You mean sick like Jeonghan-Hyung?” Mingyu questioned him when he had trailed off. “Kind of, but not really… Remember when Hyung got so sick that he was delirious, and he couldn’t figure out where he was and started screaming?” Minghao asked him. “Yeah, I remember, that was when you started yelling for help right?” Minghao nodded his head and then continued on with his story. “Sort of, Ge wasn’t throwing up and stuff like Hyung was, but the deliriousness and the screaming and so on was him. I never knew what was wrong with him.” Minghao said. “Sometimes he would talk to himself like there were other people there with him, and when I would ask him who he was talking to he would get mad at me and scream at me.” Mingyu looked at his friend in concern as he saw how much Minghao’s tears were building up the more he talked. “His mood swings were really bad, I think that was part of the reason that he was always at the top of his assignments and ranks in class since he was so unpredictable that you never knew what was going on with him.” “What happened to him?” Mingyu questioned him. That was what ended up breaking the damn. Minghao started full out sobbing into Mingyu’s shirt. He felt really bad about making his friend cry like that, but he didn’t mean to though, but either way he still felt really crappy about it. “H-H-e-ee, uh one night he came up to my bunk in the dorms and told me that he cared for me and that I reminded him of his little brother before the guards had killed him. He kissed me on the forehead and said that he had to go on a mission and that he didn’t know when he would be back, but he said that he’d see me when he’d come back.” Minghao gasped after that. Mingyu could tell that this was tearing him up inside but he didn’t know how to go about talking him down about it all. “I never saw him again. I figured that he either got killed or promoted for the longest time until I met Junhui-Ge again right before I came here and he told me what really happened.” Minghao sobbed. 

Mingyu held him and rubbed his back in comfort. He knew that Minghao didn’t like to really talk about his life that he had before they knew him. So he could only imagine how horrible he must be feeling now. The two of them laid in that position for who knows how long before Minghao was able to speak again. “When I had asked what had happened to Ge, Hyung had told me that he had told everyone that he had gone on a mission, but it wasn’t a mission at all.” Minghao paused. “He snuck out of the dorms and went to the abandoned warehouse district near them and killed himself in one of the storehouses.” Mingyu winced to himself internally. That really wasn’t something that he thought that his friend deserved to go through. Even though Minghao wasn’t always the most friendliest person in the world, he still didn’t deserve any of what he’s gone through. “I’m sorry, Hao, I know that I didn’t know him, but I can tell how much he meant to you.” Mingyu told him. “Thank you.” Minghao gasped as he burrowed himself more into Mingyu. The two of them ended up staying in bed all day in that exact same position. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Hansol could tell that Seungkwan was beyond pissed off. I mean with how Seungkwan was, it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you that. He knew that he was upset that he had to go to class and couldn’t go to the hospital to see Jeonghan like Seokmin could. Even though he also knew that after he finished the one class that he had that day the two of them were allowed to go over and see him. But that didn’t help the fact that Seungkwan wanted to go and check on his Hyung now to make sure that he was ok and wasn’t able to. 

He had been sulking all morning about how Jihoon had made him go since that was what Jeonghan would have done. And they both knew that he was right since even though their Hyung only went to high school he was very big on his dongsaengs finishing their education and not skipping school like Seungcheol used to do. So needless to say that the rule was implemented by Jeonghan that you went to school unless you were the person dying. No if ands, or buts about it. So it was easy to guess that Seungkwan would feel bad that he couldn’t go see him to make sure that he was ok. He had asked the Hyungs that were left at the apartment if he could at least call him and check on him. He was denied and was then told that he could go and visit him after his class was over and not a moment sooner. That lifted his spirits a little bit, but not by a whole lot. And that was part of the reason that Hansol was asked to come with him to class. The other part was to make sure that he wouldn’t ditch class to go see Jeonghan. No one would think that he would do it, but Seungkwan was one of the ones that Jeonghan really babied besides Chan so, it was just in case. 

“Kwan.” Hansol said trying to gain his friend’s attention. “Kwan,” He tried again and there was no answer. Seungkwan just kept walking ahead of him like nothing was wrong. He wasn’t sure if he was pretending he wasn’t there on purpose just to annoy him or if he was just so spaced out that he didn’t know what was going on. “Seungkwan.” Hansol said as he reached out and grabbed his friend’s arm and spun him around to face him. “What.” He bit out. Hansol knew that Seungkwan was in a pissy mood and didn’t want to make things worse for him than they already were, but he wanted…. He needed to make sure that his friend was ok. “Geez, chill out man, I’ve been trying to get your attention for a while now and you never answered, I got worried.” Hansol told him. Seungkwan visibly deflated at that, it was easy to tell that he felt bad for blowing up at Hansol. “I’m sorry, Sol, I just spaced out and didn’t hear you.” Seungkwan apologized. Hansol waved him off with a laugh. “Don’t worry about it, I knew that was probably the case but I just wanted to make sure.” Hansol told him. He then threw an arm around him and started walking side by side the last little bit to the school building. “I never know what’s going on inside your head sometimes, just wanted to check-in, you know what I mean?” Seungkwan nodded his head in understanding and leaned his head onto Hansol’s shoulder. 

“Do you think that Hyung is going to be ok?” Seungkwan asked him quietly. “Of course, it’s Jeonghan-Hyung, it’s going to take a whole hell of a lot more to take him out of the game than a really bad stomach bug.” Hansol told him. “He’s kind of like a cockroach in a way, you can never get rid of him no matter how hard you try.” That was able to get a laugh out of Seungkwan. That made Hansol feel good. He liked it when Seungkwan smiled, his whole face lit up like a Christmas Tree, and his laugh was one of the most beautiful things that he had ever heard. He hated it when Seungkwan was sad or upset. It just didn’t fit him, and Hansol always felt sad or upset when he was too. He just wanted to make him happy. And there was nothing wrong with that. They were best friends after all, nothing more and nothing less. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

When Chan had woken up that morning he at first thought that what had happened the night before had all been just a dream. Then he had gotten out of bed and had gone to his brother’s room. When he knocked on the door and received no answer, he got worried and opened the door. The reality of the situation and what happened the day before came crashing down on him. He remembered what had happened to his Jeonghan-Hyung the day before and how his older brother and Joshua-Hyung had to take him to the bathroom. He didn’t know how long he had been standing there before he felt his cheeks get wet with tears. Chan closed the door and walked out into the living room. 

Meanwhile Soonyoung and Wonwoo were just in the kitchen having a conversation and minding their own business. The two of them had over all had a fairly peaceful and quiet morning. Everyone was off doing their own thing for the moment and they both had realized that with Jeonghan being in the hospital everything here at the apartment would be very subdued and quiet until he got released. So, needless to say they thought that they would have more time to spend together alone when they heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Soonyoung turned his head around to see who was coming when he spotted Chan walking down the hallway. “Channie baby, what are you doing? I thought that you would still be asleep.” Soonyoung said as he got up out of his chair and began to walk over to the maknae of their group. He wasn’t even halfway to him when he saw the tear tracks going down his face. 

“Oh, baby what’s wrong?” Soonyoung asked him as he wrapped the younger up in a hug. It was then that Chan really started to cry. Soonyoung just stood there and held him as he cried. He was so lost in his head with worry about his dongsaeng that he didn’t notice when Wonwoo got out of his chair and walked over to the pair. Both of them had jumped when another pair of arms had wrapped themselves around them. Soonyoung turned his head slightly to see who it was and his cheeks turned just the littlest bit red when he saw that it was Wonwoo. The two of them made eye-contact for a brief moment before their attention was turned back to Chan. It was at that moment that when the maknae gasped and clenched tighter at Soonyoung’s shirt. The thief pulled him closer to his chest and began to try and shush him, hoping to calm him down some. A little bit of all of the pressure resting on his shoulders was taken off with him knowing that Wonwoo was holding to him from behind. This was going to be a very long day. 

At some point Wonwoo was able to move all three of them to the couch in the living room so that they would be more comfortable. He got the two thieves settled down on the couch before taking a seat on the open side of Chan on the end. Chan cuddled up to Soonyoung and laid his head down on his chest. At this point his sobbing had somewhat calmed down, and both of the 96ers could tell that all of the crying had tuckered the poor kid out. “What happened Channie?” Soonyoung whispered to him as he was playing with his hair. It was a habit that he had picked up on doing whenever he was the person in the situation that was offering comfort. It was very sweet and very intimate, and it was something that Wonwoo really liked about his friend. Don’t get him wrong he liked all of his friends and teammates, but he always admired Hoshi. Maybe it was because he was just so headstrong and fierce and did what he wanted to regardless of whether you wanted him to or not. Or was it because he loved the way that he always tried his hardest to help take care of the others, even when he didn’t really know what to do to help them. Either way, he could watch Soonyoung do this all day, if only it wasn’t under such sad circumstances. 

“I’m scared.” Chan finally gasped out when he had his neck buried in Soonyoung’s neck. “What are you scared of Chan? You know that Hyungs, especially Seungcheol-Hyung would never let anything happen to you.” Wonwoo told him. At some point during all of this he started rubbing soothing circles on his back hoping to help calm him down just a little bit. “It’s not me that I’m scared about.” He mumbled into Soonyoung’s shirt. The two older ones shared a knowing look with each other before turning their attention back to their dongsaeng in distress. “Are you scared about Jeonghan-Hyung?” Soonyoung asked him softly. Chan nodded his head softly in response. “Don’t worry about him so much ok?” Wonwoo told him. “Hyung would be upset with himself if he knew how worried you are about him.” Chan just shrugged in response. “Yeah, Wonu is right, don’t sweat it too much, Hyung is a tough old bird, and it would take a whole lot more than this to get rid of him.” Soonyoung told him. “Promise?” Chan asked them timidly. Wonwoo and Soonyoung shared another look with each other before answering their little brother. “We promise.” They both said in unison. And they ended up spending the rest of the morning cuddled up on the couch just the three of them taking in their warmth and company. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Jihoon sighed to himself as he banged his head against his desk. To say that he was annoyed and frustrated was a huge understatement. On top of having to stand in for their leader today and take care of all of the kids, he also had to start drawing up some sort of plan for their next assignment. And with Jeonghan being in the hospital, it was very difficult for him to concentrate enough to get any productive work done. So he just gave up and figured that he would just sleep the day away until they all had to go see him at the hospital. Just as he was about ready to go and lay down he heard a knock at the door to his office. 

“Who is it?” He called from his computer chair. “It’s me Jihoonie.” He heard Jun call from the otherside of the door. Jihoon smiled to himself just a little bit at the sound of his friend’s voice. “Come in.” He told him. And not even a second later the door opened and Jun popped his head into the room. Jihoon saw how his brownish-purple hair fell into his eyes. “Did you need something Junhui?” He asked him as the Chinese fighter walked into the room. It was kind of funny Jihoon thought to himself. Jun was most likely one of the deadliest people known to man, and yet Jihoon knew that he could trust him not to hurt him. Jun was one of the softest and kindest people that Jihoon had ever met in his life. Jun was gentle and kind hearted, and free spirited, who always tried to help out when he could. He would never hurt a fly, and if Jihoon didn’t know any better he would have thought that he was a pacifist. He knew that Jun had the skills and if push came to shove, the motive to do it with. 

“There’s nothing wrong.” Jun told him as he walked closer to him and sat down beside him in the chair that was reserved for Wonwoo. His voice was what snapped Jihoon out of his thoughts and brought him back to reality. “Oh, ok, then is there something that you need then Jun?” Jihoon asked him. “No, I don’t need anything, I just wanted to come in and check on you.” Jihoon nodded his head in agreement and turned back to his computer. “Whatcha working on?” Jun asked as he pulled his chair up closer to Jihoon. Normally, Jihoon would be very pissed and would be polite(regardless of what everyone else said) in telling the person in his own way that he needed his personal space. But for some reason things were different when it came to Jun. He couldn’t describe it, but he was very nervous whenever it was just the two of them left alone for any period of time. Especially when Jun would get close to him, all of a sudden Jihoon would become hyper aware of his surroundings and how close Jun always was to him. It was beginning to drive him insane, but he didn’t know how to go about fixing his problem. 

“I was just trying to work on a plan for our next job, but I just can’t concentrate.” Jihoon confessed to him. “I’m sorry.” Jun told him. He could pick up from his posture and his tone that Jihoon was frustrated about something and that it was driving him crazy. “No, don’t apologize Junnie, it’s not your fault.” Jihoon told him. “I’m just worried about Jeonghan-Hyung and I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything all day because of it.” Jun nodded his head in understanding. “Don’t fret Jihoon, I’m worried about him too.” Jun told him in a soft whisper. The two of them ended up sitting in silence for a few minutes before Jihoon couldn’t take it anymore. “Uh,.. Do you want to play videogames with me or something?” He asked him awkwardly. Jun’s whole face had lit up at the suggestion and he nodded his head. “Sure! What do you want to play?” And that nap that the hacker had planned on taking that morning was completely forgotten in favor of making a certain Chinese male smile. Just don’t tell anyone that he did that. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The last thing that Jeonghan could remember was talking to Seokmin in his hospital room before his shift started. The next thing that he knew he heard a loud bang sounded from somewhere near him. The loud noise was a great shock to his system and woke up almost instantly. His eyes snapped open and when the rest of his senses were able to catch up with them he realized that he was in chaos. There were multiple voices talking over each other. Some were yelling at others, and then some were trying to quiet everyone down. He was only able to catch every other word that flew past his ears. All that he could tell was that everyone was just so loud. He had to close his eyes again because of the noise and the bright lights of the room before they could fully focus. So he wasn’t able to see who exactly was in the room with him. But if the voices based on their volumes alone were anything to go by then it was his members in the room with him. 

He gave himself about another 5 minutes to adjust to everything before he tried to open his eyes and function like a normal person again. When his time was up he slowly peeled open his eyes and looked around the room. From what he could tell there were at least 4 people if not more surrounding his bed. When the four blurry images became clear, he could actually make out who they were. The first person that he saw immediately was Joshua. His boyfriend seemed to be directing traffic, or trying to at least and get all of the chaos into some semblance of order around him. The next person that he could make out was Seungkwan, who had this very pissed off look on his face. He seemed to be yelling at Hansol or who appeared to be Hansol, he wasn't a hundred percent sure since he couldn’t see him because Seungkwan was in the way. He turned his head to the quieter part of the bed. The first person that he saw was Channie, who was sitting at the edge of the bed closest to him. Though he wasn’t paying any attention to him at all since he seemed focused on whatever Joshua was trying to say. Then there was Minghao who was sitting next to Chan, but seemed to be in an intense and loud argument with Mingyu. Jeonghan rolled his eyes at the two of them. Any idiot could just see the rising and mounting sexual tension between the two of them. The only two people who couldn’t where the two of them. Jeonghan gave them about another couple of months before they blew up at each other and ended up in bed together. 

Moving on to the people that were farther away from his bed he saw an overly excited Seokmin talking animatedly to an equally hyper Soonyoung. He was surprised that the two of them hadn’t started climbing up the walls yet. And he could make out Wonwoo who was standing behind them who seemed to be staring off into space. That was very typical of him to do, he wasn’t as bad as Hansol was though. Then he found Jihoon and Jun, who seemed to have ended up stuck trying to resolve the argument going on between Mingyu and Minghao. Jihoon seemed about ready to go off on them any minute, the veins were popping out of his head and everything. And poor Jun was still trying to reason with them peacefully. He shook his head to himself and went to look for his other boyfriend Seungcheol. He was the most surprising out of all of them to find. 

Seungcheol appeared to be out cold asleep in one of the hospital chairs in the room. He was set up in the one closest to the door so that he was out of the way so that everyone could come in and visit with him most likely. Jeonghan couldn’t help but laugh to himself softly. He had a really crappy childhood growing up to say the least and there were even times in his life where he thought about ending it all. But taking a look around the room he was in he realized exactly how lucky he was to be with the people he was with now. They were his family, yes they were a bit makeshift and yes most of them could probably benefit from seeking psychiatric help, but they were his none the less and he loved them with all of his being. And he always knew that everything would be ok when he was with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone has had a great year so far. If not, then I'm sorry it's not going for you. Hope it all gets better soon. Now I better stop rambling and post this thing. Happy birthday to me!   
> -N.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeonghan finally comes home!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter. Only 4 more to go before I try to go and finish my Voltron FIc. Enjoy!   
> -N.

Chapter 6 

The day that Jeonghan got out of the hospital was one of the best days in his life. He was so happy to get out of there. He hated being in the hospital, he never liked them. He couldn't tell you why though, ever since he was a child he’s always had an inversion to them. Hospitals gave him the creeps, and they spiked his anxiety levels up into the stratosphere. Though everyone finds it ironic that he ended going out with a med-student. He loves Joshua very much, he loves him as much as he loves Seungcheol, but even though he works at the hospital he still avoids it like the plague. He can’t help it. Whenever the two of them had talked him into going to see a therapist that worked at the hospital that Joshua was friends with they had come to the conclusion that hospitals were one of his triggers. So he did the best that he could to stay far away from him as possible. And he also always made sure to pack lunch for Joshua to make up for it. 

He felt light as air as Joshua walked him out of the hospital with all of their stuff, which wasn’t a lot since they had left in a hurry. Seungcheol had already left to go and find the car and to bring it back to the front entrance. Jeonghan felt lucky that not only did he get to go home today, Joshua also got today and the next two days off to spend with him and Seungcheol. He was as giddy as a schoolgirl and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I love you.” Jeonghan said in the elevator on the way down as he flung himself at Joshua. He caught him with a grunt, and had to use the wall to stabilize them so they wouldn’t fall and drop all of their stuff. “I love you too Hannie,” Joshua told him. “But don’t jump on people, you just got discharged today and we don’t want you to over exert yourself and end up right back in that bed, I’m not afraid to do it.” Jeonghan just rolled his eyes. He knew that he wasn’t supposed to overdo it, and that Joshua was just worried about him, but he didn't get it. He’s free! He can finally go home to a place where he felt completely and utterly safe and be surrounded by 12 people that he completely trusted with his life. Just being in the elevator going down was doing wonders for his anxiety, and he hated elevators with a passion too, so that said something. 

When they finally made it down to the car where Seungcheol was waiting for them, Jeonghan couldn’t be more joyful. He would have ran and jumped into his other lover’s arms if it hadn’t been for the fact that Joshua had figured out what he was up to and stop him. He rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at him like a child, and just went and hugged Seungcheol instead. Seungcheol laughed at his two lovers’ antics like it was a normal occurrence, which it was, and went to go start loading things into the trunk of the car. While he did that, Joshua was tasked with getting Jeonghan into the car. Which took longer than necessary since Jeonghan was insistent that he didn’t need any help, and that he wasn’t a child. “Well, if you’re not a child you better stop acting like one and get your ass in the car.” Is what Joshua told him as an rebuttal. Jeonghan looked shocked for a moment, but then his shocked expression turned into his usual evil smirk, and Joshua knew he was screwed from then on. Jeonghan willingly got into the front seat like Joshua wanted him too, and didn’t say anything the whole way home. When they pulled up to the front of their apartment building and Joshua was getting Jeonghan out of the car so that Seungcheol could go and park the car. As Joshua was closing the door to the front seat he heard Seungcheol yell “Good luck Babe, you’re screwed!” Joshua rolled his eyes and gave him the finger as he went to help Jeonghan into the apartment. It was good to be home Jeonghan thought as they walked through the front door. 

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Life in the apartment went back to normal pretty fast not that long after Jeonghan walked back in through that front door. When he had first come back from the hospital the rest of the members had decided to throw him a surprise welcome home party, and they didn’t tell Seungcheol or Joshua either to make sure that it stayed that way. And they waited until the very last minute to tell Seokmin since he couldn’t keep a secret and he was the easiest for Jeonghan to crack open like a nut. The rest of the members had gone all out for it too. Seungkwan had roped Hansol, and Jun into helping decorate the whole apartment with streamers. He had convinced Minghao to make a ‘Welcome Home’ banner, since he was a very good artist. Mingyu had roped Wonwoo and Chan into helping him cook. And Hoshi was in charge of getting Jihoon out of his studio, while keeping Seokmin from spilling the beans about the whole thing. 

Things were easier said than done, the day that Jeonghan was scheduled to come home the whole place was in a constant state of chaos. Everyone had gotten up at the crack of dawn and had been going crazy ever since. And it gave Jihoon a large headache and he was about ready to start cracking skulls in. Though he was stopped from doing that when everyone’s phone started going off signaling that the Hyungs had gotten home from the hospital. Everyone went and hid in various parts of the apartment. The lights were turned off and they just all stayed quiet as they waited for Joshua and Jeonghan to come up. When they heard the door knob turning everyone was bouncing with energy and were trying to keep quiet. “Why are the lights off?” They heard Joshua say as he helped Jeonghan into the building. “I don’t know, did the power go out, check the lights.” Jeonghan said. And as soon as Joshua flicked the lights on, the rest of the members present jumped up from their hiding spots and yelled “ **_SURPRISE!_ ** ” at the top of their lungs. And they all laughed when they saw both Jeonghan, Joshua, and Seungcheol who had come running when he heard noise from the end of the hall flinch at the loud noise. “Are you all trying to kill me? I just got out of the hospital, I don’t want to go back!” Jeonghan yelled at them in a teasing tone. Everyone in the room started bursting out laughing, It was so good to have their Hyung back. 

Jeonghan was very touched that they all had gone through the trouble to throw together this party for him. He almost ended up crying three times, but he blamed it on his allergies and the fact that it was also the start of his next cycle. When he woke up that morning in a stain puddle of blood, he wasn’t too happy, but the fact that he was getting discharged later that day heavily outweighs that. And Joshua had even told him that it was a good thing, since he was worried that all of the stress from getting sick could have messed him greatly. And since he was acting normal they just now had to worry about Minghao since all of it could have affected him too since after living together for so long they were now synced up. And if Minghao is messed up now, then it’ll mess him and Seungkwan up as well. But he threw all of that out of his head to enjoy what he was experiencing now. Though he did make a note to go and check on Minghao and Seungkwan later though to make sure that they were all ok. All of the love that he was currently dealing with at the moment was a little bit overwhelming. He loves his boyfriends, and he loved his mother, his sister and the rest of his members who he considers all to be part of his family. But he has trouble showing his affection to them. He was told that this was just part of his anxiety, and the side effects of all of the trauma he endured as a child. So for the most part he just left all of the really mushy romantic stuff up to Joshua and Seungcheol and just went along for the ride with them. And he wouldn’t have had it any other way. 

He was sitting on the couch in between Jun and Hansol listening to them discuss something about a videogame that they were playing with each other at the moment in their down time. He had started to tune them out, with all of the other noise that was going on in their living room when he had caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head slightly to the left and saw Minghao silently disappear down the hallway. Jeonghan had been worried about the younger Chinese man, but he had never gotten the chance to go and check on him in private. But since everyone was distracted with all of the fun that they were having ( And they weren’t even drunk!) He deemed it the perfect opportunity to go and seek his dongsaeng out. He purposely stretched out his arms to pop his back and let out a huge (fake) yawn. “Hey, guys I’m really tired, I think that I’m just going to go lay down for a bit, is that ok?” He asked the rest of the group. They all nodded in agreement and told him that if he wasn’t feeling 100% yet then he should go and rest some more. Joshua and Seungcheol offered to come with him. He shook them off and said that he would be fine as he got up, ruffling Chan’s hair as he passed him by. Regardless of rather Jeonghan was sick or he had always been prone to taking naps and sleeping a lot in their downtime. So no one would think anything differently about it if he went to go take a “nap”. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Jeonghan creeped slowly down the hallway and was trying to keep as quiet as possible. Though he also knew that no matter how hard he tried to be quiet there was a good chance that Minghao had already known that he was coming since he’s that good. He walked straight to the room that he shared with Chan, Soonyoung, and Jun. The four of them got along fairly well and it took forever for them to get annoyed with each other. He came upon the bedroom door, he was debating on knocking, but he knew that if he did that then Minghao had the opportunity to pretend to not be there and hide from him. So he just opened the door and went in. If Minghao got made at him so be it, Jeonghan was worried and he wanted to check on him. 

Opening the door, Jeonghan peeked his head in and saw Minghao sitting on the side of his bed facing away from the wall. The four of them had thought that it would be a smart idea to get bunk beds to save some room. Minghao and Jun had one bunk with Jun on the top and Minghao on the bottom. And Soonyoung and Chan had the other bunk with Chan on the top and Soonyoung on the bottom. The original plan had been to put the older ones on the bottom and the younger ones on the top. But a week after they tried that, Minghao had his cycle (He was very prone to getting nauseous and vomiting a lot more than Jeonghan did to get himself put in the hospital), and they ended up changing the arrangement to make it easier to handle. If anything were to go wrong he had a better chance of either getting to the bathroom or to Jeonghan in time. Since his back was to him, Jeonghan couldn’t tell if he was in any pain or not, but he still stood there and watched him for a minute. 

Jeonghan stood outside the door for a few more minutes, he was starting to think that everything was fine when he heard Minghao groan. Not long after he heard the groan he saw his little brother move to lay curled up in a ball on his bed. That was when Jeonghan couldn’t take it anymore. He walked into the room, and slowly went to approach the bed. “HaoHao, are you ok?” Jeonghan asked him as he sat down on the other side of the bed. Minghao turned over on his other side to see his Hyung. “Hyung, what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be having a good time and resting!” Minghao chided as he tried to sit up. But Jeonghan had seen all of the color drain from his face at the movement. Jeonghan pushed him back down onto the bed. “You just lay here ok, HaoHao.” Jeonghan told him. “Let me guess, your cycle started today too right?” Minghao nodded as he threw an arm over his eyes. He let out a groan and clutched at his stomach. Jeonghan sighed knowing that this wasn’t going to be easy. 

Being a male carrier isn’t such an anomaly anymore, but at the same time it’s still a very hard life sometimes. They could still live lives like normal men, but with similar cycles to women. Normally the symptoms are supposed to be less subdued than regular women, but in cases like Minghao, and Jeonghan, and Seungkwan. All three of their individual cycles are way more intense than they are supposed to be. And when you put the three of them together in a room, hesh! But regardless the symptoms of their cycles can be so hard to deal with sometimes. For example, both Jeonghan and Minghao got so nauseated during their respective cycles that they could hardly eat anything most of the time. Though there were some times where Jeonghan ended up eating twice his body weight in strawberries and salt and somehow managed not to gag(He’s still not sure how he managed to do that). Minghao on the other hand, if you so much as even thought of food he’d spew his guts out for hours at a time. It was a little bit concerning at first, but once Joshua was able to get him on some medicine it lessened somewhat. Then there was Seungkwan, who when he was on his, he’d eat everything in sight and then eat some more. Though afterwards he always complained about how fat he got after and how much he hated his body.. It took awhile to convince him that it wasn’t his fault, it was just his body’s response to the added amount of hormones his body experiences once a month. All three of them suffered greatly from cramps, aches, and bloating. There were sometimes that Minghao even had to set out on missions, and Chan had to take his place because he was so nauseous and bloated that he couldn’t move without puking. That was the extremes of their cycles though, But Jeonghan also got terrible migraines during his. He would spend days at a time in bed since his head was pounding so hard he thought it would leave his head. Another thing that all three of them had in common were the terrible mood swings. On more than one occasion, Jeonghan could tell you that he made Seungcheol and Joshua’s life a living Hell. And Minghao on more than one occasion had bitten Mingyu’s head off to the numb. And poor, poor Vernon. He always seemed to be the one on the other side of Suengkwan’s drastic mood swings. His life wasn’t Hell, and he normally didn’t get his head bitten off, but he never knew if it was safe to talk to him or not. One minute Seungkwan was fine, the next he was a crying, sobbing mess in his arms. It was like a yoyo and Hansol didn’t know what to do and it was freaking him out! 

Minghao was still curled up in a ball on his bed, but this time he was also in Jeonghan’s lap. He could tell that he was still extremely nauseous, and uncomfortable. The two of them just sort of sat there for a few minutes in silence. Jeonghan wanted to give Minghao the time to process what he wanted to say, and how he wanted to say it, and he really didn’t want to be puked on. And Minghao was trying really hard not to throw up on his Hyung, and was also trying to figure out a way to avoid talking about all of this. He just curled up in on himself more, hoping that if he made himself small enough then he wouldn’t have to deal with anything and he would just disappear. Well, that didn’t work. He was still here in his room with Jeonghan, and he was no closer to feel less like he was going to vomit on somebody. He gave up with a huff and sat up in his Hyung’s lap. Jeonghan allowed him the room to move around and once he was in an upright position he pulled the thief into his arms. 

“I’m not going to out right ask you if you’re ok because I know you, and I know that it will just make you clam up more, but you do know that if you have any problems, you can always come to me right?” Jeonghan whispered into his ear. Minghao nodded his head softly and buried his face in his Hyungs chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around his stomach. Jeonghan just shook his head at him. He loved the kid to death and would do anything for him, but he could be a stubborn little ass when he wanted to be. And right now was one of those times. Minghao groaned softly and Jeonghan started rubbing soothing circles into his back hoping that he could offer some comfort. “It’s alright Hao, just breathe, if you breathe properly you can ride it out and it’ll pass.” Jeonghan told him. “Or if it’s too much we can go and have Shua give you some medicine for it all right?” Jeonghan asked him. Minghao just nodded his head and tried to attach himself more to his Hyung. Jeonghan just tightened his grip on him and started rocking him back and forth in hopes of being able to ride out the pain if he can distract him enough. 

The two of them just sat there huddled on the bed together for a while. Jeonghan wasn’t really keeping count anymore. They were just sitting in silence when Minghoa finally moved to sit up and away from him.”What’s wrong HaoHao?” Jeonghan asked him. Minghao just shook his head. “Are you going to be sick?” He got a shake of the head as an answer. “Are you still feeling sick?” He got a shoulder shrug this time. “At least it was something different this time/” Jeonghan muttered. He watched as Minghao picked up his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, hugging them to his chest. He was curled up in a little ball, and Jeonghan thought that he looked adorable. “What’s the matter then?” Jeonghan asked him. “You know that you can tell Hyung anything right?” Jeonghan ended up mirroring his position to show that he wasn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. Minghao huffed and avoided making eye contact with him. Jeonghan knew that something was wrong, and he also knew that whatever it was that Minghao was too stubborn to share it with him. He was running out of options here, but he still had a couple of more tricks up his sleeve for occasions like these. 

Jeonghan huffed, and sighed over dramatically. The show that he was making had gotten the attention of Minghao. “What Hyung?” Minghao asked slightly annoyed. “Oh nothing, I’m just thinking about Gyu’s reaction when I go and tell him that you’re holding yourself up in here, or maybe Junnie? The two of you have always been very close.” Jeonghan said. “NO!” Minghao shouted as he reached out and grabbed on to him. ‘Bingo.’ Jeonghan thought. He knew that if he mentioned either Jun or Mingyu it would get his attention and make him spill his guts. A sure fire way to get Minghao to spill his guts was to mention one of three people Jun, Mingyu and himself. There’s just something about the three of them that can make his walls crumble down. And Mingyu really had that effect on him. “Ok, why don’t you want me to go and get them?” Jeonghan said. “Since you’re not telling me anything, I need the back up.” Minghao was quiet for a moment before he started speaking again. He mumbled out something that Jeonghan couldn’t quite catch. “What was that I couldn't hear you?” Jeonghan told him. Minghao glared at him for a while but did raise his voice a little so that he could understand him. “I said I didn’t want you to get them because Jun-Hyung already knows, and I don’t want to tell Mingyu.” 

Jeonghan was taken aback a little at this confession. Even though Minghao and Mingyu fight like cats and dogs and can blow up at each other over nothing. (The sexual tension between the two of them is so thick that it is literally suffocating.) But they are still best friends and they tell each other everything. Even though Minghao is very close to Jun too, he’s more likely to tell Mingyu anything first before him. “What’s so bad that you can’t even tell Mingyu?” “It’s about you.” Minghao told him. Jeonghan was shocked at that. “What about me?” It was then that he remembered that at the hospital when Seungcheol had told him that Minghao was the one who found him. “Does this have anything to do with what happened the night that I went to the hospital?” Minghao nodded his head. “I… I was so scared..” Minghao said. “I’ve never seen someone so sick before, and then you started shouting and freaking out.” Jeonghan sighed at this. He was told that he was so overwhelmed with being sick that he had a panic attack. But they didn’t tell him that he had it in front of Minghao. “I haven’t seen something that bad since the…’Agency’.” He could see the tears pooling in his eyes, and Jeonghan gave both of them about 2 minutes before they started crying. “I really thought that you were going to die Hyung.” And that was when the dam broke. Minghao was sobbing so hard that he couldn’t really breathe right. 

“It’s ok Hao.” Jeonghan soothed. “I’m right here, and nothing bad is going to happen to me or to anyone if I can stop it.” Minghao nodded his head. “I know that but I still can’t help but be scared, both Mingyu and Jun-Ge have come to talk to me about it, but I haven’t been telling them the whole truth.” After telling Jeonghan the story of Ge, and what happened to him, Minghao was a shaking, sobbing mess. “What didn’t you tell them?” Jeonghan asked. “I didn’t tell them that after Ge,.... part of the reason that I escaped was because of him, and the other part was something else.” Minghao said. He redirected his gaze to his lap where his hands were. “What did they do to you Hao?” Jeonghan asked him softly. He had reached out and held both of the Chinese man’s small hands in his. “The night that I left, I woke up when I felt another presence in the room. I didn’t really think anything of it at first until I felt another weight on my bed.” Minghao took a breath before continuing on with his story. “I woke up and one of the guards was on top of me…” Jeonghan had noticed when he had pulled his hands away from him to scratch at his arms. “I didn’t know what was going on until he tried to take my clothes off of me.” Minghao said. “I freaked out and pushed him away from me, I grabbed the knife that I kept under my pillow and stabbed him when he came after me and I ran and never looked back.” Minghao was full on sobbing now and Jeonghan was right there with him. He wanted to tell him that he wasn’t alone, and that the same thing had happened to Jeonghan himself too. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Ok,” Seungcheol said as everyone gathered in the living room for a meeting about their next client. “Today we are gathered to discuss our next mission. Woozi-ah if you would please?” Jihoon nodded and got his computer up and running once he hooked it up to the tv. After a few minutes an image of a man that they had never seen before popped up on the screen. He was very well kept and sharply dressed, he looked to be in his 60s. At first glance he seemed harmless, but if you got a good look at his eyes you could see the evil in them. “This is Kang Lee-Soon.” Jihoon said. “And he is the CEO of Seoul Pharmaceutical, the largest drug company in the country.” The others nodded at the screen and Seungcheol motioned for them to continue. “About a week ago his granddaughter Sumi Kwang had reached out to us for help.” As he was saying that her picture also popped up on the screen. She was a very beautiful young woman, she seemed to be about Dk, Mingyu, and The8’s age. She also seemed to be a little thing, and she looked like a princess. It made something in Jeonghan’s chest contract painfully. 

He snapped out of his head when he heard Seungcheol went back to explaining what they were doing. “ The reason that she has asked for our help was that She had come across some documents by accident, her grandfather had sent her to get some invoice to give to the accounting department but what she found instead was so much worse.” Seungcheol said. “The papers that she found were part of the plan that her grandfather has to pass off an old drug for another new one.” “What haven’t you told us yet?” Joshua asked him. “It’s not that uncommon for some companies to take a drug off of the market, and then put it out again a few years later under a different name, or make the same sort of medicine and name it differently so that it is label a generic brand.” Joshua told them. “Normally, you right babe, but this time it’s a little different, the drug that he is putting back on the market is called Mytenbelm, or something along those lines.” Seungcheol told them. “It was a medication that was used to treat people with liver failure, but instead of helping people it was linked to many of their trial paitents’s deaths.” “And to make matters worse,” Soonyoung butted in. “He’s going to market it as a new anxiety medication.” 

Everyone in the group just sort of looked at each other for a moment. It was an unspoken conversation amongst the group. And it was no secret why. A few years ago when the group was just starting out, and at the same time the 95 liners were just beginning their relationship with each other. At the time everyone was still figuring out where they fit in the team and with each other. While they were still learning their team dynamics, things were complicated. One of the incidents that really marks this time in their history together started with Jeonghan. At this time Jeonghan was really struggling with his anxiety condition. He had fought his battle with anxiety for years before he joined the group. But things came to a head when he started going out with Seungcheol and Joshua. He was under so much stress, with going on missions, and his complicated love life along with keeping everyone in their little family that was growing by the minute it seemed, made things really hard for him. Though somehow he was able to keep everyone thinking that everything was ok. A few months after that though, Jeongahn had reached his breaking point. He had gotten into an argument with Joshua and Seungcheol and had broken down crying in the middle of it in front of everyone. When he was able to compose himself he ran into the bathroom and slammed the door and locked it. That day they’re not really sure what happened. But it seemed like Jeonghan had tried to commit suicide. 

By the time the Seungcheol and Mingyu were able to break the door down, they found Jeonghan crying on the floor, with his arms cut open and bleeding. Joshua barged in not long after and saw the state of his lover. He was able to bandage the cuts, but he made Jeonghan go to the hospital just to be on the safe side. When they got there, it was deemed that he would be ok physically, thanks to Joshua’s quick thinking. But he was kept in the Psych ward for a week to be examined and diagnosed. 

And that was when Irene came into the picture. She examined him, and he was diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder due to past traumas from his childhood. Due to confidentiality laws, she couldn't reveal what the traumas were, she had told Joshua that Jeonghan would have to open up to them at his own pace in his own time. Joshua understood, and thanked her profusely, and asked if she would be his doctor for the duration of his whole treatment. Joshua had explained to her that out of everywhere on the floor that worked the Psych Ward, Irene was the only one who he liked and could connect with. She felt very honored and agreed immediately to treat him. He saw her regularly for over a year, and just recently she deemed him well enough to come to her whenever he felt that he needed her. But she told him not to be a stranger and to come and visit her. 

“So what’s the plan then?” Jeonghan asked. The uncomfortable silence that everyone had gone into was starting to drive him mad. He didn’t want to feel helpless and like he was made out of glass so that they had to treat him a special way to make sure that he didn’t shatter. He already felt crappy enough as it was, he didn’t need this on top of. He was starting to get a little bit pissed off when he didn’t get an answer right away. “Well, what’s the plan?” He asked again. “You do have a plan to take this bastard down don’t you Cheol?” That seemed to snap their leader out of his stupor. “Oh, um, yeah, well, the main gist of this is that we,.. Um.. Woozi?” Seungcheol asked flustered. The look of pure determination, and something else was throwing him for a loop. He could see Joshua wrapping an arm around him to try and calm him down a bit. “Well, before they can release the drug fully onto the market they have to jump through so many hoops before hand.” Jihoon said. “They have to have representatives from the government, and inspect things before it can be released to the public.” He pressed a few keys on his computer and another screen popped up. “Another hoop that they have to go through is a press release party for the drug.” “Everyone will be there.” Seungcheol said. “Drug reps, Board members, investors, the whole deal.” “Well, I guess that means that we have some work to do then don’t we.” Jeonghan said as he stood up and moved to see more of the plan. Seungcheol stood in front of him and put a hand on his chest to stop him. 

Jeonghan stood there for a moment looking bewildered at him. “Cheol?” He questioned him. “I’m sorry Han, but I can’t let you go on this one.” Seungcheol told him. “And why is that?” Jeonghan asked him. And by the tone of his voice Seungcheol knew that he was very pissed off at him. “Because you’ve only been out of the hospital for barely a week, you’re still feeling the effects of the toll that your virus took on you.” Seungcheol told him. He went to brush back a strand of hair from his face and behind his ear. Jeonghan grabbed his hand and pushed it away. Looking around the room Seungcheol saw the shocked expressions of the rest of the team members. Jeonghan never, ever pushes Joshua or Seungcheol away when they try to touch him. “I’m the grifter, who do you expect to go in and scope out the mark?” He asked him. “You forget that you’re not the only one here that’s good at lying, and you’ve taught some of these kids more about the tricks and cheats of this craft than you realize Hannie.” Seungcheol told him. And that just made Jeonghan madder. “You just don’t want me to go because of my anxiety do you?” 

The whole room was silent. The rest of the members were just standing around the living room watching the two of them. Seungcheol and Jeonghan used to fight a lot when they first started out, but over the course of the team and their own relationship with each other and Joshua they pretty much stopped. Though when they do have their spats they can get pretty volatile. “That’s not it at all, Hannie this is just too close for you ok?” Seungcheol told him. “I’m scared that this will do you more harm than good in the end.” Jeonghan rolled his eyes at him. “So you don’t think that I can handle it?” Jeonghan said. “No, that’s not what Cheol is saying at all Hannie.” Joshua said as he stepped in to try and calm his two lovers down. “Really, you’re taking his side?” Jeonghan accused him. “NO, Han, I’m not taking either side, I just want the two of you to know that we just want what’s best for you.” Joshua told him as he stepped between them. “And Hannie, this time what’s best is for you to stay home, you know what happened last time you went on a job that hit too close to home.” And that royal pissed him off. “So I punch one dirtbag asshole of a casino owner, who was ripping apart innocent family’s lives, and you never let me live it down!” Jeonghan shouted at him. And that got the attention of everyone in the room. Jeonghan never raises his voice, ever, at anyone. “You know what, if you want to do this without me, then I’ll just go to my room, and act like the damsel in distress was that you all think that I am.” And he then stormed off and the last thing that everyone heard was the loud bang as he slammed the door shut. 

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Jeonghan was pissed beyond belief! Who does Seungcheol think that he is, just going around and telling him what he can and can not do. Just the thought of it made his skin boil. And yes, he knew that it wasn’t the smartest idea that he ever had to go off and punch the casino owner from a couple of years ago. But the man was ruining lives, not just the lives of the people that gambled there but their families too. Jeonghan should know, his family was probably one of the guy’s victims. Normally he’s not a violent person, but he just snapped that one time. And it was one of the hardest jobs that he ever had to do. He had to pretend to be some rich executive who had the hots for the mark. The guy was an utter creep, and he made Jeonghan’s skin crawl and his stomach roll every time he touched him. It pissed Jeonghan off so much, he saw red and punched him. He ended up breaking his nose in the process, but they still got the jerk arrested in the end so he didn’t see the harm. Seungcheol didn’t see it that way. 

And to make matters worse, Jeonghan knew that if he went on that job that he would probably do the same thing, if not something worse to the mark this time too. He can remember Irene telling how whenever he gets put underneath great amounts of stress, he was prone to acting out. She said that it had something to do with all of the stuff that he had gone through as a child. He had witnessed on more than one occasion when things got bad, people acted out in a violent way. 

At this point he was kicking himself for the way that he had acted. He felt guilty that he blew up on Seungcheol and Joshua. He loves the two of them more than anything in the world. He would do anything for them, and he wants to spend the rest of his life with those two if they’ll have him. But that doesn’t stop the two of them from getting on his nerves from time to time. Out of everyone in the group, the two of them know him the best, they know every single tell, tick, and habit that he has. And he knows all of their respective ones also. It’s a perk of being in such a loving and healthy relationship. Seungcheol and Joshua were the best things that ever happened to him. If it wasn’t for them and the rest of the members he would probably be dead by now. During his sessions with Irene Jeonghan had come to the conclusion that he most likely would have killed himself if he had stayed with his own family, or he had never met Seungcheol. The damage that his step-father had done to him left more than just a couple of everlasting scars, both mental, emotional, and physical. What they say is true, you never forget your trauma, but as time goes on it can get easier and easier to live your life. And that is what Seungcheol, and Joshua, and the rest of SEVENTEEN have done for him. They made it easier, to get up in the morning, and function, they made it easier to breathe, and to live his life and be happy. And for that he is forever grateful. 

Curled up in a ball sitting on the bench that was attached to their bedroom window that opened to their fire escape, Jeongahn was thinking. He was thinking about life, and all of the meaning of that crap. All that he really wanted to do was just go back out there and take Seungcheol and Joshua back in here so that they could make up. He was so lost in thought that he jumped when he heard his phone went off. He turned and picked up his phone where he left it sitting next to his feet. His heart started beating faster when he saw who the messages were from. It was the group chat that he had Seungcheol, and Joshua had. He read the message, and hesitated for a minute before he decided to answer. 

**_Cheol: Hey, Hannie, I know that you’re probably still mad, so I don’t expect you to read this just yet. But I want you to know that I’m sorry, about earlier I know that I hit a sore spot. But I want you to know I just didn’t want to put you in a situation that you could have ended up hurt in. And if you’re going to be mad for awhile, be mad at me and Shua, huh. He didn’t do anything but try to stop us from going at it in front of the kids._ **

**Shua: Seungcheol, don’t tell him that. I am just as much at fault for our current spat as the rest of you are. But seriously Hannie, I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to make it look like I was picking sides. I like Cheol, just don’t want you to end up hurt after this, and you know what I mean when I say this. Just take all of the time that you need ok? We don’t expect you to get over this over night, and Cheol and I are figuring out who we’re going to room with tonight so you can have the room all to yourself. I love you Yoon Jeonghan <3\. **

**Hannie:** **Don’t be stupid you two. You’re not sleeping anywhere but here in this big bed with me. I’m sorry too. I know that I acted like a complete ass earlier and I apologize. I just felt like you guys were ganging up on me, and were treating me like I couldn’t do this job. And I know that you’re right, if I go on this I will probably go off and punch the gut or worse. So I’ll just stay behind and run opps with Jihoonie or something. I don’t want to push you guys away anymore than I have been doing recently. I love you two so much, words can’t even begin to describe it.**

**_Cheol: Are you sure Hannie? It’s no problem at all for us to stay somewhere else. Channie already said that I could room with him. And Seungkwan kind of just grabbed Shua by the arm and pulled him into his room. If you need more time to cool off, that’s alright we just don’t want to push you. I love you Jeonghan, take all of the time that you need baby alright?_ **

**Hannie:** **I mean it Seungcheol. I want the two of you to sleep with me tonight. I’m lonely, and not mad anymore, I promise. I’ve had my time to cool down and think. And the only thing that I can think of now is how much I need the two of you right now.**

**Shua: Are you a 100% sure Han, like Cheol said, it’s no problem. But if you want us to come back we can. We just don’t want to push you Hannie. We love you and we just don’t want to push you away from us unintentionally.**

**Hannie:** **You’re not, and I want you guys to come back. I need you guys tonight. Please.**

**Shua: Cheol and I are on the way, be there in 2 seconds, Love you.**

Jeonghan smiled to himself at that last message and moved to go open the door. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Hearing a knock at the door, Jeonghan jumped up from the bed and raced to let his boyfriends in. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the two of them at the door. Seungcheol was wearing a ratty old shirt and a pair of shorts that were tight for him, that he must have borrowed from Soonyoung. And Joshua was still wearing his scrubs still, but he’s pretty sure that the sweatshirt that he was wearing was Seokmin’s. In other words they looked beautiful. And he wasn’t the only one thinking those kinds of thoughts. Both Seungcheol and Joshua were admiring how the clothes that Jeonghan had changed into were hanging off of his small frame. His sweatpants were Joshua’s and the shirt was Seugncheol’s. In other words he looked beautiful and sexy. And all three of them were hoping for something more than just talking that night. 

“Come in.” Jeonghan said in a hushed whisper. He moved out of the way of the door to let the two other men in. Joshua and Seungcheol walked in single file into the room. Jeonghan closed the door behind them and locked it. The three of them were just standing there looking at each other before Seungcheol broke the awkward silence by clearing his throat. “So, um, I guess we’re going to go to bed now right?” “Um, well, I was hoping that we could just talk, you know just the three of us, we haven’t done that in a while.” Jeonghan suggested. Joshua trying to ease the tension in the room motioned for everyone to go and sit on the bed. Jeonghan ended up sitting in between Seungcheol and Joshua. The three of them didn’t say anything for a little bit. Jeonghan was sitting there with his head down, and nervously playing with his hands. Joshua noticed this and reached out to still them. Him and Jeonghan made eye contact and smiled softly at each other. Both of them turned their attention to where Seungchehol was sitting. He was sitting there awkwardly and was trying to make it look like he wasn’t staring at them. 

All of a sudden the three of them just started bursting out laughing. They just laughed and laughed at nothing like they were three school girls at a slumber party. When the laughter had finally calmed down after a few minutes, all three of them just flopped back onto the bed. And they all were holding hands with each other, and were smiling. It reminded Jeonghan of when they first got together and they did stupid stuff like this all the time. The memory of those times made his whole body feel warm and tingly in time. He knew that he had this big stupid grin on his face, and that he probably looked crazy, but he didn’t really care, he was in love and he was happy. 

Jeonghan decided that he wanted to do something with his lovers. He turned his head and kissed Seungcheol passionately on the mouth. When the two of them broke apart they were gasping for breath. Seungcheol had this weird look on his face, and he had this stupid smile on his face. Then Jeonghan turned the other way and did the exact same thing to Joshua. During the middle of this Seungcheol had moved so that he was wrapped around Jeonghan from behind, while he was making out with Joshua. When those two finally broke apart, all three had this knowing look on their faces. “Somebody’s excited.” Joshua said. Jeonghan just smirked before he leaned in and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “What if I am, what are the two of you going to do about it?” Jeonghan teased them. Seungcheol peeked his over Jeonghan’s shoulder and he and Joshua gave each other a knowing look. “What do you say Shua, should we teach the tease a lesson?” He questioned him. Jeonghan looked down and made eye contact with Joshua. Joshua just gave him an evil smile in return. Jeonghan finally caught on to what was happening, and leaned back against the bed in between his two boyfriends. “Well, if you’re going to do something get on with it, I don’t have all night.” Jeongahn said with a smile on his face. Needless to say, they had fun that night. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

It was the middle of the night and Chan couldn’t sleep. He laid there in the top bunk of the set of bunk beds that he shared with Soonyoung. He didn’t know if it was the fact that they were doing another job that hit kind of close to home with everyone, or watching his brother and his lovers fight earlier. Or it could be the fact that Soonyoung was snoring so loud it was impossible for anyone to sleep. It wouldn’t surprise him if the whole building could hear the noise. All that Chan knew was that it was driving him crazy, and he needed to get out of there before he tried to smother him in his sleep. So as quietly as he could, be crept down the stairs of the ladder. He had to stop a few times on his way down when he heard one of his Hyungs stir or move in their sleep. He knew that if one of them woke up and caught him, he would be busted. They would ask him what was wrong and wouldn’t leave him alone until they got what was wrong out of them. So as soon as his feet hit the ground he booked it out of there and into the kitchen as fast as he could.

And the thing is Chan doesn’t know what’s wrong. He just has this feeling that something’s wrong, or more likely that there is something wrong that is going to happen to them. He can never really explain these feelings that he has. Most of the time they just turn out to be nothing, but there are a few instances when they turn out to be true. One of the first ones that he could ever remember having one was when he was 4. That was the day that their mother had told him and Seungcheol that they were going out for ice cream. He had a bad feeling that something wasn’t right, but he was so little that he didn’t really know how to articulate it to his older brother. Though Seungcheol was able to figure out that something was wrong and told him that everything would be alright. When they got there, their mother had left them in a booth and told them that she had forgotten her wallet in the car and that she would be right back to get them. She’s been gone for about 15 years, and he never did get that ice cream. 

When the employees there realized what had happened they had approached Seungcheol after they called the police and asked if there was anyone they could call. His brother gave them the number of their grandmother. She came and got them, and they ended up living with her for about 5 years until she passed away from a heart attack. One night she was reading him a bedtime story and tucking him into bed with a goodnight kiss, and the next him and Seungcheol were standing over her grave. After that Child Services couldn’t find another relative that was able or even willing to take the two of them. They ended up being placed in a foster care home for the time being until things were settled. They ended up staying there until Seungcheol was 15 and chan was 12. The reason that they left was that Seungcheol had come home, and he had caught one of the older kids having pinned Chan down on the floor. Seungcheol was livid, he pulled the guy off his little brother and smashed his head into the wall. The adults in charge were livid, and the “father” of the house had given his brother a black eye. That night Seungcheol had woken him up with all of their stuff packed, and ready to go. They left that night and never looked back. 

“Channie, what are you doing up?” Chan jumped at the sound of his older brother’s voice. He turned to look at him as he walked into the kitchen. Seungcheol wasn’t wearing anything but a pair of loose sweatpants that hung around his waist. He was shirtless, which wasn’t uncommon for him, but what caught his attention was all of the hickeys that littered his brother’s neck and various parts of his chest. “I take it you and Jeonghan-Hyung, and Shua-Hyung have made up then.” He teased him. His brother just blushed, and shoved his shoulder. “Brat.” Seungcheol said. “I didn’t think that anyone would be up at this time of the night.” He told him. “Now, that brings me to my first question, why are you up?” And he had that patitened ‘Dad Look’ that he uses for when he’s being serious. “Nothing Hyung, I just couldn’t sleep, why are you up?” He fired back at him. “I was thirsty from previous activities and wanted some water.” He said with a smirk. “TMI!” 

The two of them stayed up a little bit longer talking with each other. They talked about everything and anything, and nothing at all. It was nice, talking just the two of them. With 11 other people living in the same space as the two of them having brotherly bonding time can be scarce if not at all. The two of them used to do stuff like this with each other all the time when they were little. For the longest time in all of their lives were all that each other had. They didn’t have the same Dad, but both of them had skipped out not long after they were born. Then their mom up and vanished. The straw that really broke the camel’s back was when their beloved grandmother died. She was the sweetest woman in the world, and she bent over backwards for the two of them. When she died their whole world fell apart. Over time though they were able to fix the damage that all of them had caused. Forming their little gang with the rest of the members gave them a new family. It was one that they both felt loved in and they knew that they could always count on them for anything. 

“What’s on your mind Chan?” Seungcheol asked him. At some point during their conversation they had made hot chocolate to pass the time by. “It’s nothing, just something stupid.” Chan said to try and dismiss it. But Seungcheol wasn’t going to fall for it. “I don’t buy it, and you’re lucky that I don’t go and wake up Jeonghan and have him deal with you.” He told him. And Chan knew that it wasn’t just some empty threat. He would go and get Jeonghan, then Jeonghan wouldn’t leave him alone until he gave in. Jeonghan had sort of adopted Chan when he first met him when he was 13. He’s his “baby” as he calls him affectionately. If there was anything wrong or there was something that he was struggling with Jeonghan had figured it out and was on top of it to fix whatever it was before Seungcheol could even ask him what was wrong. He loves his Hyung, all 12 of them, but he didn’t want to worry them. “I just have this bad feeling.” Chan finally admitted. “I don’t know how to describe it, but I feel like something’s wrong or something is going to be wrong.” 

“How long have you been having this feeling?” Seungcheol asked him. “I guess a couple of weeks,” Chan said. “It started not that long before Jeonghan went into the hospital.” Seungcheol didn’t say anything for a good 5 minutes. “Do you think that your feeling is real?” Seungcheol was the only one who had known about these “feelings” and he had learned to take them seriously everytime he had one even if they ended up not happening. “I don’t know, it feels like the one that I had when mom left, and Nana died.” Chan confessed. “Then we’ll keep an eye out for anything shady ok?” Seungcheol told him. He placed a hand on his little brother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it ok, I’ll take care of it Chan.” Seungcheol told him with a smile on his face. Chan was able to return his smile, and went and hugged his brother. “I know you will Hyung, I have faith in you.” Chan told him. “I know that I don’t tell you this enough, but I love you Hyung.” Seungcheol kissed him on the head and ruffled his hair. Chan went and threw his arms around him in a hug. “I love you too, you little punk, I couldn’t have asked for a better younger brother than you.” Seungcheol told him. He looked over the top of his head and caught a glance at the clock on the stove. It read 3:45 AM. “Man, it’s almost 4 in the morning.” Seungcheol said he was very shocked. “I guess that it’s time for us to head back to bed.” He turned to look at his little brother who was still clinging onto him. “Think that you can sleep, or do you want to come and sleep with us?” Seungcheol asked him. While that did sound like a nice offer, with the fact that Jeonghan and Joshua would cuddle him all night, he really didn’t want to do that since they just had sex in that bed. “Thanks, but no thanks Hyung, I really don’t want to sleep in that bed after you’ve just had sex in it.” Chan told him. “Yah! You little brat, see if I’m ever nice to you again.” Chan just laughed as they walked out of the kitchen into the hallway. The two brothers walked in silence as they headed down the hall to their respective rooms. They paused outside of his room. “Well, here’s your stop. Goodnight Channie.” Seungcheol told his brother as he hugged him. “Love you too Hyung, night.” Chan said as he walked into his room. The talk with Seungcheol really helped ease his nerves a lot. But as he laid in bed and looked around the room, he still couldn’t help but feel that there was something bad brewing. And whatever it was, it was going to be something that he didn’t know if they could handle it. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 7, hopefully the last 3 chapters before this one goes on break so I can finish the first part of my Voltron series comes out soon. Enjoy! And thank you for all of the love this has received. I never thought that this would hit off like it did.   
> -N

**Chapter 7**

It took them 3 weeks to plan everything out to make sure that there was a minimal chance of anything going wrong. The team worked 24/7 for almost 3 weeks preparing everything for this night. Tonight was the night of the drug release party. If they fail tonight then the drug will hit the market and many people will end up dead. And it had every single member on the group on edge. This was one of those jobs that hit just a little bit too close to home. And things were being done differently this time around since Jeonghan was still benched from his stay in the hospital. He was taking things better at the moment than anybody thought that he would. He was really cooperative throughout all of this. He didn’t fight with anyone or try to go on the job at all. He was very helpful in preparing everything. It kind of scared everyone. In all of the time that they have known their Hyung they have never seen him this docile when it comes to going on missions. Jeonghan is normally the one who volunteers to go on everyone and is adamant that he’s going rather they like it or not. This is just freaky. 

Since Jeonghan was benched, that meant that they were sort one grifter. So Seungcheol told him to pick one of the other members to train for it in place of him. He ended up picking Seungkwan as his stand in. He was going to pick either Joshua or Vernon since they seemed more likely to remain calm in the situation. But Josh had to work and Vernon ended up being pulled as extra muscle. So that either left Jihoon or Seungkwan. Seungkwan was less likely to go off and kill someone or cause them bodily harm. It took a while since every time Jeonghan tried to teach him about grifting Seungkwan just sort of freaked out. Another thing about Seungkwan was that he was a horrible liar and has a tendency to be very over dramatic. It took a while to get down the basics enough to where Jeonghan was confident enough that Seungkwan wouldn’t go in and choke. And he had a very simple role in all of this. All that he had to do was go in and pretend to be an inspector of the government coming into double check that the drug was safe to be released into the market. He just had to place nice with the mark long enough for them to get in and leak the information about the drug and get out. It was as simple as that. But that still didn’t keep Seungkwan from freaking out about the whole thing. He was really starting to make Jeonghan’s blood pressure rise servely. 

Despite the obstacles that they have encountered during the planning for this Jeonghan had no doubt in his mind that they could do this. He fully believed that Seungkwan would be fine as long as he knew that he wasn’t alone in the situation. So he had talked Seungcheol into letting him get on the comm links to communicate with them. He was going to be on the line with him the whole time. If Seungkwan had any problems, Jeonghan would be right there to tell him what to do to fix it. And that fact alone made Seungkwan feel more and more sure about himself now. And that brought a little smile to Jeonghan’s face at the thought. Now, all he had to do was spend the whole night worrying about the rest of his dongsaengs. The only 3 that he didn’t have to worry about were Joshua, Seokmin, and Jihoon. Jihoon would be at the apartment running opps from his office where Jeonghan could keep an eye on him. And the other two would be on call at the hospital. That eased his worries just a little bit though. He was still filled with anxieties over the rest of them going on the job without him. Jeonghan can’t help it, he’s the mom friend of the group and he always has to make sure that they’re ok. He just wants everyone to get through this job without anyone getting hurt. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Now, are you sure that you have everything that you need?” Jeonghan asked Seungcheol. The two of them were standing in the middle of their kitchen talking in hushed voices. They had about 30 minutes until everyone had to leave to get in place for their job. Some of the members had already gone on ahead to get in place to set everything up. So it was just Seungcheol, Seungkwan, Minghao, Soongyoung, and Chan left. Vernon, Mingyu, Jun, Wonwoo, had already gone ahead to get in position. Jeonghan was so worried that at more than one point he thought that he was going to throw up more than once. Seungcheol could tell that he was freaking out so he had pulled him aside to check on him one last time before they took off. 

“Hey, look at me.” Seungcheol said, as he cupped Jeonghan’s chin and pulled his head up to face him. Jeonghan reluctantly lifted his head to face his lover. “Don’t worry Angel, we have everything that we need.” Seungcheol told him. “Jihoonie, Soonyoungie, and I have spent hours planning this, and we’ve spent hours going over it with all of the kids, ok?” Jeonghan nodded his head. “They know what to do if everything goes right, which is what we’re banking on, and they know what to do if something goes wrong, so quit stressing yourself out over it ok? I hate it when you or Shua aren’t smiling.” Jeonghan punched him in the shoulder for that. “Stupid, of course I’m going to worry regardless of what you tell me,” Jeonghan told him. “I love you all so much, of course I’m going to be worried about if you all are going to be safe or not.” Seungcheol couldn’t help but smile at that. Jeonghan was one of those people who had trouble expressing himself through words, he showed his love for everyone more by his actions and pranks than just saying it out right. “And it doesn’t help my worries at all that the last job you went on, you almost blew yourself up.” Ok, he deserved that one. 

Seungcheol wrapped his arms around Jeonghan’s waist and pulled him close to his chest. Jeonghan put his head on Seungcheol’s chest and just let himself be held. At some point Seungcheol had started rocking the two of them back and forth, as a soothing motion. “It’s going to be alright Hannie, I promise you ok?” Jeonghan hummed in response. “I know that, and I know that you’ll do everything in your power to make sure that nothing happens, but I can’t help but worry.” Jeonghan whispered to him. Seungcheol chuckled at that. “I know, you wouldn’t be the mother of 11 if you didn’t worry.” Seungcheol jokes. Jeonghan rolled his eyes at him. He loved this man he really did, but sometimes he just wanted to choke him for his terrible Dad jokes. The two of them just looked at each other, for a moment. They leaned in and kissed each other. It wasn’t anything fancy or wild, just a soft press of the lips. But it did take Jeonghan’s mind off of everything for just a little bit. They were just wrapped up in their own little world that they didn’t notice that someone had walked into the room. “Um, Hyungs?” The noise scared them and they broke apart from each other to see who was there. It was Chan. “Hey, Channie, do you need something baby?” Jeonghan asked him as he pulled away from Seungcheol. He walked over and wrapped Chan up into his arms. “No, Hyung, I just came to get Seungcheol-Hyung, it’s time to go.” Chan said as he was trying to break away from Jeonghan. “Ok, Chan-ah I’ll be there in a second.” Seungcheol told him as he finally got out of Jeonghan’s grasp. Seungcheol walked over and gave Jeonghan one last kiss before leaving. “Come back to me.” “Always, my Angel.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Everybody in position?” Woozi asked as he finished setting up. The rest of the members had left about an hour ago to get into their positions and set everything up for tonight. Which left Woozi and Jeonghan alone at home. It’s not that he doesn;t want his Hyung there, it’s just that Jeonghan has a tendency to freak out excessively when he’s not there himself in person to make sure that things are going right. It kind of drives Jihoon crazy since, all Jeonghan will do tonight is pace until either the job is over and everyone comes home, or Seokmin and Joshua come home from the hospital to distract him. Now, don’t get him wrong, he loved his Hyung, he really did, but he needs to be in his zone to do this, and he can’t do that with Jeonghan pacing all night long. 

“We’re good over here Woozi-ah.” Seungcheol said. “I’m at the entrance waiting to be let in with everyone else, I saw Mingyu around here somewhere, he was cozying up to the government rep. And I sent Kwanie up ahead to meet the mark.” Woozi hummed over the line. “That’s good Coups-Hyung, now how about everyone else?” “Jun and I are making our way up to the elevator now. I just have to get into his office to leak the files.” Wonwoo told him. “Good, how about Hoshi? Are you guys in place?” “Sir, yes, sir!” Hoshi shouted over the comm. “Really.” “Sorry, me and The8 are in the vents and are on our way to where they have the vials locked up, and from there we head to the server room to inplant the virus.” “Good. Now, everyone else, I warn you if you don’t check in now, I’m sicking Mom on you all.” “This is Vernon, Dino and I are on the ground floor, they’re about ready to start letting people in, I can see S.Coups-Hyung from here.” Vernon reported. “So far so good, security doesn't suspect a thing, and I don’t think they will.” “Good, because the doors are supposed to open in 3, 2, 1.” And as the old saying goes let the games begin! 

“Ok, I’m in, does anybody have eyes on the mark?” Seungcheol asked. Woozi turned around in his chair to look at Jeonghan. He was in charge of walking Seungkwan through his part so that they could get the mark out of the office so that Wonwoo could work. “Still in his office, Kwanie’s having a little trouble getting him to leave, he wants him to sign the papers.” Jeonghan said. “Did you hear him?” “Yeah, I heard him, Han you have a plan?” Seungcheol asked. “Working on it Coups, give me five minutes before he starts making his way to you.” “Ok, how about Gyu, how’s your progress going?” “Ok, Hyung, I slipped away from my date for a few minutes to go to the bathroom. She doesn’t suspect a thing and she won’t leave me alone.” Mingyu said. “What do I do?” “Try one of your terrible pick up lines on her.” Minghao suggested. “Not helping Hao.” “Wasn’t trying to.” “Alright you two enough bickering we’re on the clock.” Seungcheol siad. “Ok, Mingyu Han will help you once he gets Kwanie down to me so we can trade off.” “Ok Hyung, I’ll try to stall for as long as I can.” And it was times like these that Woozi was really questioning his line of work. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Meanwhile, with that mess going on, we have one Boo Seungkwan trying and in his opinion failing to work the mark. The mark in Seungkwan’s opinion was a very creepy and disturbing old man. The whole time that he has been around the man he was either ignoring him completely or was hitting on him. He was beyond flirtatious and it was making him a little bit uncomfortable. He’s never really been the object of anybody’s attention in a sexual way before. And to make matters worse the man had a granddaughter who’s his age. There were so many things wrong with this situation. Though he feels a whole lot better that Jeonghan was on the line with him, walking through everything. “So, um Mr. Kang, I do wish to see what you have planned for this evening before I sign those papers if you don’t mind.” Seungkwan told him. “Of course Mr. Choi, but I do have a question for you, why are you so interested in this silly old party of mine?” Kang asked. “I was taught by my mentor that you never really know if a person is being honest to you unless you see how they host an event.” Seungkwan told him. “Why, I don’t know. He was very eccentric.” And Seungkwan didn’t miss the little reprimand that Jeonghan gave him in his earpiece for telling the mark that he was eccentric. “Well, I do admit that it is a very odd request, but you’re the government official here so I leave it all up to you.” Kang told him as he stood up. “We have a party to get to then don’t we?” 

On the way out of the office, the two men passed the custodians as they walked to the elevator. Kang didn’t pay them that much attention at all, but Seungkwan didn’t miss the little wink that Jun gave him as he walked by and grabbed the key to the office for him. Seungkwan handed it off to him with ease, since it wasn’t that hard to take it from the mark. He let out a breath that he didn’t know that he had been holding. He was ready to let Jun and Wonwoo deal with all of the more dangerous stuff. 

Once, they passed Seungkwan and the mark Jun and Wonwoo ditched the cleaning cart that they were using as cover. With the key that Seungkwan had given them it was a piece of cake to get into the office. The office itself wasn’t that grand. It looked like your typical CEO with too much money and time on their hands. There was a bunch of fancy artwork and pictures hanging on display everywhere. “It’s a good thing that Mingyu isn’t in here or all of this stuff would get broken.” Jun said as he looked around for any secret handing spaces while Wonwoo took the computer over. “Well, you’re not wrong.” Wonwoo told him. “Now be quiet so I can work, we only have 30 minutes to get in and patch Woozi through.” Jun nodded and continued his search. He was feeling around in one of the bookcases when he just happened to trip over a rug. “Ow!” He yelped as he hit the floor. Wonwoo’s head turned to face the fallen muscle. “Are you ok?” He asked, and he actually sounded worried about him. Jun grunted and got up, and noticed what was under the rug. “Yeah, I’m ok, but I think I just found the safe.” Jun told him. Underneath the rug in the office was a floor safe. Though it seemed to be one of those old timey classic ones. “Where’s The8 When you need him?” He mumbled to himself. 

The8 was their designated safecracker, Hoshi could crack one too, and Chan was learning how to, and shockingly Jeonghan could crack one if he had enough time, but Jun, not so much. “Hey, Wonwoo, do you have one of your gadgets for cracking this safe or do I have to call Hao?” “What kind of safe is it?” Wonwoo asked. When they were just starting out Wonwoo had spent months making little trinkets and gadgets that they could use to help them out on their missions. He had made a bunch for safe cracking to make things go faster, but it was only for the more modern ones. His defense was that no one uses the old stuff anymore. “I don’t know, it looks very old.” Jun said. “Then see if you can get The8 on the line to either get him down here or to walk you through it.” Wonwoo suggested. Jun sighed and went to his comm. “The8, come in the The8, hey HaoHao, you busy?” Jun said. “What?” He got an answer. “Are you and Hoshi through with your part yet, we kind of need your expertise.” Jun told him. “What did you do this time Ge?” Minghao asked. “Nothing, for information thank you, we just came across a safe and I’m pretty sure that it’s too old for any of Wonwoo’s gadgets.” Jun told him. He heard the Chinese thief sigh on the other end of the line. “We’re almost done with our part, I can try and sneak over.” Minghao said. “You guys are almost done with the switch?” “Yeah, we have the combo saved on our phones once Vernon got it.” “Ok, I’ll see you soon then, I think Wonwoo’s still working.” 

It was about 5 minutes later when the two of them heard a knock on the door. They looked up and saw The8 standing on the other side of the door through the glass windows. Jun went to go and let him in while Wonwoo was still on the computer working. “Where’s the safe?” Minghao asked. “Over there in the floor.” Jun said. Minghao nodded and went to work. While he was doing that Jun went to go and check on Wonwoo’s progress. “Have you gotten in yet?” Jun asked as he walked up behind him. “I’m in now.” Wonwoo said with one click of the key. “Ok Woozi, I’m in so you should be able to piggyback off of me now and plant the virus.” He said into his comm. After receiving confirmation from Woozi, Wonwoo went to work on downloading and leaking the files that they needed off of the computer, while Woozi was busy planting several nasty viruses on their system from home. After that was over their part of the job was over. “Got it Hyung.” Jun turned his head to his little brother. Minghao had cracked the safe and was busy rummaging through it to see what was inside. “This stuff looks important.” He said. “Then take it.” Wonwoo told him. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Seungcheol was just sort of standing in the middle of the ballroom that the party was being held in. There wasn’t a whole to it that he hasn’t seen before on other missions. He didn’t mind it that much, but this wasn’t really his scene. Seungcheol was more of a homebody and liked being in smaller groups, with the exception of the members. Jeonghan was better at acting like he belonged in places like this. His boyfriend was very good at making people believe what he wanted them to, and thus he always acted like he was at home anywhere he went. And that was part of the reason that he always had him out on the floor during the missions. Jeonghan made him feel calmer when they were on missions. He had an easier time keeping his head on straight with Jeonghan and Joshua around. And even though he is the one who benched him, his nerves have been getting the better of him tonight. 

He was so out of it at the moment that he didn’t notice someone walking up to him. “Hello S.Coups-ssi.” Seungcheol jumped out of his skin and turned around to see who it was. “Hello, Ms. Kang it’s good to see you again.” He spoke to her softly. He was really hoping that having the mark’s granddaughter come and talk to him didn’t blow it all. “Have you made any progress on your work?” She asked him. “Um, we’re working on it at the moment, I just have to have a little meeting with your grandfather.” He told her. “Ah, I see, well I do hope that it goes well for you.” She said to him, “I guess that I’ll leave you to it then.” She went up and kissed him on the cheek before leaving him alone. To say that Seungcheol was stunned was beyond an understatement. He didn’t expect her to do anything like that at all. He was just counting his luck that Jeonghan or even Joshua, but especially Jeonghan was there to see that. They would have a field day with it and kill him. “Seungcheol, why did she just kiss you?” Oh CRAP. 

Another thing that Seungcheol couldn't believe was that he forgot that Jeonghan was still on the comms even though he wasn’t here physically. He knew that he was upset by the tone of his voice. He could see that he had two options here, and neither one of them ended well for him. But he had to pick the one that ended the best with his relationship. And no, he’s not saying that Jeonghan and Joshua are the jealous type in any way at all. It’s just he kind of forgot to tell them that the mark’s granddaughter had a thing for him. He was going to tell them, he swears, but that was the night that they had to take Jeonghan to the emergency room and he kind of just forgot about it. It really was just an honest mistake but he knew that he was going to be in a lot of trouble for it later when he got home. And he knew that it would be very hard with Jeonghan. Not because he’s the jealous type but because of his insecurities. Thanks to his step-father from Hell, that Seungcheol really wouldn’t mind punching, Jeonghan has no confidence in himself. Sure, it looks like he does by how he acts, but that’s all that it is an act. Jeonghan’s very good at making believe what he wants them to believe, and he has a very mothering personality. So you put that with him being one of the three eldest in the group it just goes nowhere good. Jeonghan loves all of the younger members with every fiber of his being and he would do anything for them. And part of that anything in his mind is putting up a front when he’s hurting so that they can’t worry about him. It’s one of the qualities that Seungcheol loves about the man, but at the same time has him very worried. 

“Well?” Jeonghan said into his ear. And for a moment there he forgot that they were using the comms and he jumped a little because he thought that Jeonghan was standing behind him. After his mini heart attack Seungcheol took a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst. “That was Ms. Kang, the mark’s granddaughter.” Seungcheol whispered as he walked off to somewhere more secluded to have this conversation. Even though they were on the comms and the rest of the team that was present was listening in on this no doubt, he didn’t want their cover to be blown. “She seemed to have taken a liking to me when we first met up.” And Seungcheol can just see the steam coming out of Jeonghan’s ears now. “Before you get all mad and angry at me, I was going to tell you and Shua when I got home, but we had to take you to the hospital, and I kind of forgot about it until now.” The other end of the line was very quiet for a few moments before anyone spoke again. “So it’s my fault?” Jeonghan said. “No, no Hannie that’s not what I’m telling you at all, I’m just saying I was so worried that I forgot.” Seungcheol told him. “So, it’s my fault because I’m the reason that you were so worried.” Jeonghan fired back. “This has nothing to do with you Han, it’s not your fault I promise you.” And when Jeonghan had stopped arguing with him, Seungcheol had actually thought that he had gotten through to him. Though that had kind of fell through when Jihoon had come on the line. “You do know that Hyung left the room and took out his piece about 45 seconds ago right?” Jihoon said. And the only thing that Seungcheol had to say to that was “Well, shit.” 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Mingyu was a little bit lost. He hadn’t intended to get lost though. Once he was finally able to get the go ahead to ditch his ‘date’ for the evening he got a little ahead of himself. He had given Ms. Government Agency the excuse that he had to go and track down someone for his boss and that he would see her later and he was sorry that he had to leave her. She told him that she understood and that it was no problem. She let him go with a kiss on the cheek and her phone number on a little slip of paper. He thanked her and bolted. Though not without some snickering from the members (Minghao). Anyway he had to go and find Wonwoo, The8, and Jun. Since the job was wrapping up nicely and Seungcheol and Seungkwan were about ready to expose the man he had to help make sure that everyone else would get out of it ok. Hoshi, after making the big switch had ducked out and joined the waitstaff with Vernon and Chan. They were just waiting on Seungcheol’s mark to get the Hell out of Dodge. 

Since Mignyu was so lost in being lost he wasn’t really paying any attention to where he was going. So he was a tad bit shocked when he ran into someone, hard. They got knocked over so hard that they both went down to the floor.“Oh! I’m so sorry, are you ok?” The stranger asked him. Mingyu just groaned for a minute at first before he was able to look up at him. And when he did he was completely shocked. Standing in front of him was Jeon Jeongguk, his best friend from middle school. He hasn’t seen him until right before they started high school and he joined Seungcheol’s crew. One day Jeongguk was at school and the next he wasn’t. Mingyu was worried about him, though everyone had just assumed that he had moved back to Busan where he came from, but some of the other kids in their grade had started rumors about him. Some said that he ran away, others that he was kidnapped and put into human trafficking and what not. Mingyu never believed them though, but he couldn’t say that he wasn’t hurt when the guy that was supposed to be his best friend beside Wonwoo just up and vanished without telling him a thing. 

Though he doesn’t suppose that it matters anymore since they’re standing in front of each other again. “Mingyu. Kim Mingyu?” And wow, it looks like Jeongguk still remembers him too. “Jeon Jeongguk? I don’t believe my eyes!” Mingyu told him as he picked them both off of the ground. “Look at you, you’re not a little shrimp anymore!” Jeongguk rolled his eyes at that remark but still went and hugged him regardless. “What are you doing here?” Jeongguk asked him. And if it had been any other person but Mingyu who he was talking to then they wouldn’t have thought anything differently about what he said. But Mingyu knew, he could tell that by the tone of his old friend’s voice that there was something wrong. Jeongguk has never been that great at hiding what he’s feeling from other people that he knows well. His one tell is that his voice always gives him away. If he’s upset or something as soon as he opens his mouth his voice wavers with enough anxiety that you know something’s wrong. And through the years that Mingyu knew him he was able to differentiate between him just being shy to something else. And right now he was talking like there was something wrong. 

“Oh, um I’m just here with some friends, you know um my parents know one of the members of the board of directors and asked me to come to show support from our family.” Mignyu told him. “But I went to the bathroom and lost them.” Jeongguk laughed at him for that. “Same old Mingyu then, and let me guess you’ve been looking for them ever since.” He said, Mingyu nodded his head. “Yeah, um it’s my neighbor, you remember Wonwoo right?” Jeongguk nodded. “Yeah so it’s him, his roommate, and his roommate's little brother, but the little brother had really bad anxiety and has trouble speaking Korean.” “Why?” “ Oh, um Wonwoo-Hung’s roommate is from China, but his family moved here for their parent’s work, but anyway I think that his little brother had an anxiety attack and they all went somewhere to get him away from the crowd.” It wasn’t the best lie in the world. But he was banking on the fact that Jeongguk has, or he had really bad issues with his anxiety when they were children and that he knows what it’s like and understands and let him go. And it’s not a complete lie, Minghao does have a little anxiety when it comes to meeting new people, he just won’t admit and hits Mingyu when he brings it up. 

“Well, I’m sorry, I’ll help you look for him then.” Jeongguk said. Mingyu nodded his head in thanks and pulled out his phone. “Wonwoo-Hyun texted me earlier and said that they were in some empty office in that direction.” He pointed behind Jeongguk in the direction that his friend just came from. And Mingyu got the look of worry on his face when he realized where they had to go. “Are you sure that it was that why, maybe it was the other way, or a different floor?” He told him. Mingyu wasn’t buying into any of it. “Nope.” Mingyu told him. “Wonwoo-Hyung said that way.” He said as he walked off in the direction. He heard Jeongguk sigh before following him. “Alright Gukkie spill it.” Mingyu told him as they were walking. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said, “Really Guk, I’ve known you for a while now and I know that we haven't seen each other in a couple of years but I still remember how bad of a liar you are.” Mingyu said with a roll of his eyes. “What’s wrong Jeongguk, you disappeared when we were 14 and I haven’t 7 almost 8 years and when I do you’re acting way out of character.” Mingyu turned to look at him. “What’s wrong, tell me so that I can help you? If you’re in trouble my friends and I can help you, we can keep you safe, you just have to say something.” He could tell that Jeongguk was about ready to cave in when he got a ping from his comm. 

“Mingyu get out of there! My sensors just picked up what appears to be a bomb, find the others and take your friend and move!” Woozi yelled into the mike. Well, it looks like he’s going to have to change his plans then. Jeonghan would kill him if he knew that he almost blew himself up again. “Uh, Guk, looks like whatever you have to tell me can wait until after this, but I got to grab you and my friends and we have to hit the road, because I just found out that there’s a bomb in the building don;t ask me how I know this though.” Mingyu told him. “Of course I know that there’s a bomb in the buliding, I;m the one who planted the stupid thing, now let’s get your friends and go brecause my Hyungs will kill me if it goes off and I’m not out of the buliding yet!” Jeongguk said as he dragged Mingyu away. “Now, which empty office are they in?” Jeongguk asked. “Oh, they’re in the CEO’s office.” Mingyu said. “And what do you mean you’re the one who planted it?!” “Like I said I planted and why are you’re friends in the CEO’s office in the first place, there hasn’t been anyone in there since the man left with what I assume is his next conquest.” “No, that’s Seungkwan and if he tried anything Kwannie was instructed to bite him where it hurts.” Jeongguk paused and turned around to look at his old friend. “You know that guy?” He asked him. “Yes, he’s my dongsaeng.” Mingyu said. “And you still haven’t answered my question why did you plant it?” Jeongguk huffed and mumbled “Jin-Hyung is going to kill me.” “Have you ever heard of the gang Bangtan?” “Yeah I have Coups-Hyung said….. Wait you’re in Bangtna?!” 

Jeongguk hushed him and smacked him on the arm. “Yes ok geez, and Coups-Hyung, do you mean S. Coups as in the leader of the gang SEVENTEEN?” The two of them looked at each other for a second and blurted out “YOU JOINED A GANG AND DIDN’T TELL ME!” Before either one of them could continue their conversation they were both interrupted by their ear pieces screeching. “Ok, we really have to go, and get everyone out of the floor, we only have 10 minutes before it blows up.” Jeonggkl told him. Mingyu nodded and they raced off towards the office. Though they didn’t have that long to go before they ran into who they were looking for. “What took you guys so long, and Jeongguk-ah?” Wonwoo said as he saw the two of them approach. He almost didn’t recognize the kid, he had changed so much from the scrawny kid Mingyu had dragged around everywhere when they were children. “Hi Wonwoo-ssi, nice to see you again, long story short, there’s a bomb going off in like 9 minutes and so many seconds and we have got to book it like yesterday.” Jeongguk said. “What he said.” Mingyu echoed. And from there they all raced out of the hallway and down the stairs to the exit. They were doing pretty good until the bomb went off and caused them all to kind of fall the rest of the way down. Though surprisingly the only one who got hurt was Jeongguk when Mingyu fell on top of him. They were still able to get out though in a timely enough manner for either one of their teams though. They just had an extra passenger in the car on the way home. No big deal. Seungcheol was so going to kill them all for this. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Jeonghan knew that he was probably being just a little bit petty with the way he was acting but he didn’t really care. He saw the security feeds of the event that Jihoon had pulled up on his computer. He saw the drop dead gorgeous granddaughter of the mark kiss Seungcheol. It was only on the cheek and she probably didn’t mean anything by it, but the look on his face just made Jeonghan’s heart break. And he knows that both Seungcheol and Joshua are and have always been faithful to him, and he to them. But it still didn’t quell the feeling of insecurity at having Seungcheol leave them for her. He knows that it sounds completely absurd, but he can’t help it. All that was going through his mind at the time was his step-father’s words of how useless and worthless he was. And all of those times that he told him that no one would ever love him because he didn’t deserve it. And when Seungcheol had told him that it wasn’t anything, it just made everything worse. He felt an anxiety attack coming on. He took out his comm and ran out of Jihoon’s office. He had gotten Seungkwan far away from the mark and so his part was done. That still didn’t stop him from feeling bad about leaving Jihoon though. But it was like his body was possessed. 

He had run into the room that he shared with Joshua and Sseungcheol, he slammed and locked the door behind him. He put his back up against the door and slid down onto the floor when his legs couldn’t hold his weight anymore. He brought his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them and laid his head on his knees. Rocking back and forth for who knows how long Jeonghan was trying so hard to calm himself down on his own. But every time he was on the verge of coming down, he would work himself right back up again. So he just spent what felt like an hour or so crying. He just sat there at one point when he had run out of tears he just sat there, feeling empty. He was there when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. “Go away.” He said, “Hyung, you gotta get out here, we need you.” Jihoon said. And from the tone of his voice Jeonghan could tell that he was worried. And Jihoon isn’t one to get worried or to openly show it if he is. “What’s wrong?” Jeonghan asked after he had gotten out of the floor and opened the door. “Well, Mingyu ran into one of his friends at the event, and it just so happens that this friend is a member of the gang Bangtan.” Jihoon said. 

Jeonghan’s eyes got really big at that. He knew of the rival gang, Seungcheol has talked a lot about them. They came on the scene about 2 years before they came about, and they are just as good if not better than they are. Though no one knows exactly how many people are in it since they’ve sort of gone in and out with people. But the one thing that Jeonghan remembers is that they are very well known for blowing things up at every job. No one gets hurt though, they always plan it out in enough detail that it’s all controlled to the point that no one is in the way to get hurt. And Jeonghan was freaking out with the knowledge that his dongsaengs are left alone with one of their members. “What, are they ok?” Jeonghan asked. And Jihoon could tell that his Hyung was freaking out. And Jihoon really didn’t know what to do to comfort him. And he knew that his Hyung’s current state of mind wasn’t helping the situation any. “It’s ok Hyung, they’ve gotten out ok, Wonwoo just messaged me, they’re out and none of them are hurt, well none of them that are ours anyway.” Jihoon said. “So if they’re not hurt then who is?” “Mingyu’s little friend, they were going down the stairs and when then the bomb went off Mingyu tripped and fell on top of him.” Jihoon told him. Jeonghan huffed and ran a hand through his hair. These kids were really going to be the death of him. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Once they got everyone out of the building Seungcheol had them all meet up at an abandoned building 20 minutes down the street. When they got that sorted, he had told Mingyu over the phone to have his friend call his Hyungs to come and meet them at the meeting place to come and pick him up. He had Seungkwan ride with Mingyu and Jeongguk to go and check out his ankle. He told Jun to send him updates about them. Mingyu, Wonwoo, Jun, Minghao, Jeongguk, and Seungkwan were in one car. And Seungcheol, Soonyoung, Chan, and Vernon were in the other car. It was a very tense 20 minute drive to the meet up spot. Though Wonwoo was giving updates on Jeongguk’s condition via what Seungkwan was telling him. From the looks of it Jeongguk had only either sprained or bruised his ankle. He wouldn’t be able to tell for sure without his having his stuff with him. And all of that stuff was back at the apartment. 

Seungcheol was just relaxing or trying to relax in the passenger seat while Chan was driving in the driver’s seat. He was starting to actually kind of doze off when he felt his phone in his pocket buzz. He jumped a little and moved to pull it out of his pocket to check and see who it was. He was just a little surprised to see that it was Jeonghan who was texting him. 

**Hannie:** **I’m sorry.**

That was all that it said. Seungcheol sat there and looked at his phone screen for a minute. He knew that he wasn’t actually angry at Jeonghan. He knew that he was just in a bad head place and that most of his negative emotions were being taken out on himself. 

**_Cheol: Don’t worry about it. I’m not mad at you. I know that you’re just in a bad place at the moment and that Ms. Kang kissing me even though it was on the cheek wasn’t approatorte._ **

**** **Hannie:** **But that’s no excuse, I overreacted and I’m sorry. I know that you and Shua would never cheat on me and that I would never cheat on you. But I just can’t help thinking these thoughts sometimes. I just…. It’s hard for me sometimes to understand why you guys are interested in me. And I know that we’ve had this conversation about a million times before already, but I just can’t help it.**

**_Cheol: Don’t beat yourself up Hannie. Angel I love you and if Shua was here with either one of us he’d tell you the same thing. You’re our world Hannie. And on more than one occasion I’ve thought about how we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. I don’t know if you’ve realized this yet or not, but Hannie you’re and Shua are it for me. There’s no ifs ands or buts about it._ **

**Hannie:** **You asshole! Now, I’m sitting here crying my eyes out.**

**_Cheol: I’m sorry, but I was only telling you the truth Angel. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about Ms. Kang earlier, but I was so worried about you. And I know that this is a lame ass excuse but after you got released from the hospital I just didn't want you to be upset. And in the end I ended up making you more upset than if I were to have just told you in the first place. I’m the one who has to apologize not you._ **

**Hannie:** **But the real reason that I texted you in the first place was to check on you. Are you ok? I know Jihoon said that no one got hurt in the explosion or anything, but I just wanted to make sure that he was telling the truth. And you’re forgiven. I love you Choi Seungcheol.**

**_Cheol: I love you too Yoon Jeonghan._ **

“So, who are you texting?” Soonyoung asked from the backseat. Seungcheol jumped at the sound of his voice. He kind of forgot that he was in the car with the rest of the team. “It’s probably Jeonghan-Hyung.” Chan said. And he knew that he was right too since he saw Seungcheol blush. “Oh yeah Hyung, you’ve got it bad.” Dino said. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

They only had to wait for about 10 minutes once they for 10 minutes before a small black car pulled into the lot. It’s plates were blacked out from the angle that he was looking at. Not long after a tall man around Seungcheol’s height got out of the car. He seemed to be a little bit older than him but he had a smile on his face. Seungcheol decided to get out of the car and greet him to make sure that he was legit. “Um, excuse me.. Um, do you by any chance happen to have a dongsaeng of mine?” The man asked him.”Yes, I do, but I have to know which one you are to make sure that I’m not sending the kid off to go with a serial killer or something.” Seungcheol said. The man nodded his head. “That sounds fair, and I admire you for making sure of his safety, I’m J-Hope, and my dongsaeng’s name is Jeon Jeongguk, is what he said that you all know him by since you’re member Mingyu recognized him from their school days.” 

Seungcheol motioned for Mingyu and Seungkwan to take Jeongguk out of the car. He wanted the kid to identify him as his Hyung to make sure that it was the right person. Call him paranoid, but he wanted the kid to get home safe and sound and unharmed if he could help it. The kid got out of the car and hobbled over to them with the help of Mingyu and Seungkwan. “Ok, Jeongguk-ssi, I know that I’ve been asking you this a lot, but is this your Hyung?” Seungcheol asked him. Jeongguk came around to the front and saw his Hyung. “Yes, this is J-Hope-Hyung.” He told him. Seungcheol nodded, “Ok then kid, you’re free to go, and don’t be a stranger now.” Seungcheol said. Jeongguk nodded his head. “Thank you Seungcheol-ssi for your help.” “Eh, it’s no problem I’m sure if the situations were reversed I would want someone like you to help my dongsaengs.” 

Seungkwan and Mingyu helped Jeongguk over to his Hyung. Once he was in his arms Seungkwan gave him a run down of all of his injuries, what he did to treat him when they got out, and what he’ll need by the time that they get him home. J-Hope nodded his head as Seungkwan rambled on and on about everything. Once he was finished they all thanked Seungkwan before pilling Jeongguk into the car and driving away into the night. Mingyu and Seungkwan walked back and got in the car and the rest of them made their way home. It had been a long night, and all that he wanted to do was go home, eat, shower and sleep for 8 hours with Joshua and Jeonghan. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Kookie do you want to explain to me again how you ended up hurting your ankle again?” Jin asked over the speaker phone. When Hoseok had put him in the car, and climbed in, they drove off back to their base. Jungkook was in the back with Hoeseok in the passenger seat and Yoongi driving. They hadn’t even made it out of the parking lot when Yoongi’s phone started ringing with a call from their eldest Hyung. Jungkook knew as soon as Hobi answered that he was in for it. And that there was no escaping the wrath of Jin. “Well, Hyung, when I was trying to get my friend Mingyu, and his friends out of the building before the bomb went off, Mingyu tripped and fell on top of me and we ended up rolling down the stairs.” Jungkook said. The other end of the line was quiet for a few minutes before anyone spoke up again. The silence was starting to get on Jungkook’s nerves. It normally was never good when Jin was quiet when he was mad at someone. 

“Is this that old friend of yours that is clumsier than Joon?” Jin asked finally. “Yes, Hyung.” He told him. “Aish, Kookie I hate to tell you this but you need to find new friends, who aren’t a hazard to your health.” Jin told him. “Hey! Not all of my friends are like that, Yugyeom, and BamBam aren’t.” Jungkook said as he tried to defend his friends. “Yeah, and how many times has Jaebeom-ah been ranting to Joon-ah about all the trouble that those two brats cause.” Jin said. And Jungkook did have to agree with him. Those two were known for causing a lot of trouble in their free time. “Well, you’re not wrong.” Jungkook finally admited. “Fine, I give up, we’ll meet you back at the apartment. Yoongi-ah how far out are you guys?” Jin asked him. “About 15 more minutes, Hyung, we’re taking the back roads so no one will notice.” Yoongi told him. “Good, because I don’t want you guys out, especially you and Jungkook-ah out this late at night with only one person as back up.” “Hey!” Hoeseok said. “Sorry Hobi-ah nothing against you, I am just a firm believer in the strength in numbers saying.” Jin said. Not long after that he hung up the phone when he heard shouting in the background. There was no doubt that Taehyung had something to do with it. 

The three of them drove in silence for the next couple of minutes. The only noise or movement at all in that time frame was Yoongi running his hand through his hair. Hoeseok looked over periodically at his Hyung. He was worried about him, Jungkook too, but one look in the backseat told Hoeseok that whatever Seungkwan gave him for the pain knocked him out good. Turning his attention back to the eldest in the car, he noticed his pale complexion. And yes Yoongi is naturally a pale person. His skin is almost as white as snow on a daily basis. And it doesn’t help that he spends most of his days inside their shared apartment with the others on his computer. But at the moment he was looking even paler than normal. It looked like all of the color had drained from his face. “Hyung?” Hoeseok questioned softly as not to wake Jungkook up who was asleep in the back. “Hmm..” Yoongi answered absentmindedly. “Are you ok, you look a little peaked.” Hoeseok told him. He reached his hand over the console and placed it on his Hyung’s leg as a sign of comfort. “I’m ok Seok-ah, just tired, it’s been a long day.” Yoongi told him. Hoeseok looked at him for a moment before he spoke up again. “As long as you’re sure, I just don’t want you to over work yourself, are you sure that you don’t want me to drive?” He asked him. The hacker just sighed and shook his head. “No, I’m ok, and it wouldn’t do any good since we’re almost home.” Yoongi said. “Thank you though anyway Seok.” “You’re welcome Hyung, I love you.” Hoeseok told him. “I love you too Seok.” 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Joshua was actually very surprised when he and Seokmin got home before everyone else did. When they walked through the door it was to an empty and silent house. It was a little bit unnerving. “Hyung, are you concerned at how quiet it is, or it's just me?” Seokmin asked as they were taking their coats and shoes off at the front door. “No, Minnie, it’s not just you.” Joshua said. “But Jeonghan and Jihoon are supposed to be here, so I don’t know why it’s so quiet.” Seokmin nodded. “I’m going to look for them, I’ll check Jihoon-Hyung’s office.” Seokmin said as he went to go look around the apartment. Joshua nodded his head and decided to go and look in the bedroom for Jeonghan. Walking back towards the room, he couldn’t help but not be able to shake this feeling that he has. He walked back to the room that he shared with Seungcheol and Jeonghan. 

Opening the door, Joshua peaked his head in and saw a figure laying underneath the covers. It looked to long to be Jihoon so it must be Jeonghan. “Hannie?” Joshua asked softly. He didn’t get an answer so he just assumed that he was asleep. Joshua gave him a few minutes to see if he was actually asleep or just faking it. When he never did move and his breathing stayed the same, Joshua figured that he was in fact asleep. He walked farther into the room and gentely sat down on the bed next to his sleeping lover. Jeonghan had his back to him and seemed to be out like a light. It was the most peaceful that Joshua had seen him in months. Now, Joshua wasn’t a fool. He knew that there was something going on with Jeonghan. And he had a feeling that it had something to do with his lover’s step-father. What little that Jeonghan has told both him and Seungcheol about the man, Joshua could see how devastating it was to experience it. He started out as someone that Jeonghan loved and admired and he threw all of that away when he turned to gambling and alchcolo. That man was one of the first people to ever break his heart. And it made Joshua’s own heart ache for him. He just wanted Jeonghan to be ok. And he really hoped that he would be. 

He started playing with Jeonghan’s hair at some point to have something to do with his hands. And all that they have been through in the last little bit, it felt nice just to relax and do domestic things like this. Joshua really enjoyed doing simple stuff like this with him and Suengcheol. Especially in the early days, when their relationship was still brand new. He can remember how awkward they were with each other. He used to get so tense just sitting five feet away from one of them. And as things got more intimate with them the more he realized that he was in love with them. He loved being with Jeonghan and Suengcheol. Loved the way that it was always so easy for him and Jeonghan to team up on Seungcheol to annoy him. He loved the way that even though Jeonghan isn’t normally one to be affectionate and to openly show it, he does whenever he feels bad and needs some comfort after a long day at school. He loved how Seungcheol makes sure that they’re both ok before they go to sleep at night. And on the nights that they aren’t together he always calls or texts them to make sure that they’re ok. 

One of the favorite memeroires that he has of them was the first ‘date’ that they ever went on. He can remember being so nervous that he was making a big mistake and screwing his whole life up. He loved Seugncheol and Jeonghan that much he did know, but he didn’t want to mess up their freindship because of it. He can remember meeting Seungcheol at their old rundown apartment they used to live in before they had the influx of members. The two of them just sort of stood there for a moment not knowing what to do with each other. They were supposed to be meeting Jeonghan for their date but he wasn’t there. It wasn’t until Woozi walked in and told them that Jeonghan went up to the roof of their building and that he was probably waiting for them up there. The two of them walked up the stairs to the roof together. When they got up their they were meet with a nice suprise. Jeonghan was up there fixing a blanket on the ground when they came up. He can remember it like it was yesterday. 

“What time is it? What are you guys doing here?” Jeonghan asked, as he picked his head up when he heard the door open. “It’s 6, Jihoon told us where you were when you never showed up.” Seungcheol said. “Oh shit! I’m sorry I lost all track of time I didn’t mean to think that I was standing you guys up.” Jeonghan said as he jumped up from his place on the ground and ran over to the other two. “That’s alright Hannie, we were just worried about you.” Joshua said. “But what are you doing up here?” “Um, well it was suppossed to be a surprise but I guess Jihoon ruined that.” Jeonghan told him. “I know that it’s not much and it probably sucks a lot, but I made us a picnic.” Jeonghan said as he moved out of the way to show them what he did. There was a bunch of fairy lights strung all over the top of the roof, and blankets covered the floor. There were a lot of them because they weren’t in that good of condition. Over all it looked cute, and they could tell that Jeonghan had put a lot of effort into it. “It’s beautiful Hannie, you didn’t have to do all of this.” Joshua told him. Seungcheol nodded his head in agreement. “I know that I didn’t have to but I really, really wanted to, I wanted this to be special since it’s our first date.” Jeonghan told them. “And I know it looks cheezy and everything but I thought that this would be the perfect thing to do.” Joshua’s heart melted at that. “And I let Channie and Sammy come along to help me pick out this stuff from teh recycling bins and give away sections at the thrift stores to decorate.” Jeonghan said. “I’m pretty sure that they had a bigger kick out of this than I did.” Seungcheol laughed at that. “Yeah I bet that they did.” 

Joshua came back to reality when he heard Jeonghan shift around in the bed. For a second there he thought that he was waking up at one point,but he just ended up rolling over and burying his face in Joshua’s stomach. Joshua couldn’t help but to laugh at him. He always thought that it was cute watching Jeonghan sleep. He always acts like a cute kitten or puppy in Joshua’s opinion. He loved the way that Jeongahn tends to scrunch his face up in his sleep, he thought that it was the most adorable thing in the world. Him and Seungcheol both are guilty of just laying in bed watching Jeonghan sleep on more than one occasion. Jeonghan hates it when they do that though, he finds it creepy. But they still do it anyway and he hasn’t killed them both for it yet so they count it as a win. It was then that it really hit Joshua. He is totally and completely head over heels in love with Jeonghan and Seungcheol. They’re it for him. His end game. He doesn’t want anyone else other than though two in his life for forever. They make him the happiest that he has ever been in his life. And them, along with the rest of the members of their team are his second family. He comes to the realization that he does still miss his mother a lot, but at the same time it’s hard to miss her when the members make it feel so much like he never left her at all. Jeonghan and Seungcheol are his home, and he never wants to leave them at all. They make his dawn and they make his day. He is forever grateful that God had him meet them.They are the loves of his life and he wouldn't change a single thing about them. 

It was times like these that Joshua started to think about their future together with them. He has not even a single doubt in his mind that he wants to marry Jeonghan and Seungcheol and spend the rest of his life with them. He wants to have and raise a family with them. And even though they’ve talked about it once or twice before he knows that they both want the same thing. And he knows that Jeonghan is scared to get pregnant, but they can adopt. He knows that all of them will make great parents and that their children are biological or adopted and would never have to question whether they are loved or not. And he admits that this is a little dirty secret of his that he had dreamt and daydreamed about what their family life would be like. He can just picture mini versions of the three of them running around the house causing trouble like no tomorrow. This was his life and he never wanted to let that go. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get messier, before they get better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's the next chapter. Only 2 more before this goes on a little break so that I can try and finish my Voltron fic so that I can come back and finish this one. I hope that everyone is staying safe out there! This virus is dangerous and it's better that we all take the actions necessary to keep us all safe. Good news is since I have a compromise immune system I'm confined to my home so that means more likely than not more updates yeah! Well I'll stop rambling now and let you guys get to reading. Again stay safe out there and have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 8 

When Seungcheol walked through the front door to their apartment after the job that night he felt so relieved. Though it did feel good since he saw Wonwoo pull up an article in the elevator on the way up about how the CEO was being carted off to prison for possibly endangering the public. There was a video attached to the article showing the man screaming and shouting and having a meltdown like a child when they don’t get what they want.It made Seungcheol smile, he couldn’t wait to show this to Jeonghan. The job was done, with some unexpected help from another gang and everyone was home with the appropriate group. Now, all that he wanted to do was go to bed with his two lovers. 

“Why is it so quiet in here?” Jun asked after everyone walked through the door. When they pulled up out front of the building they had expected everyone who stayed home to be up waiting for them. It’s what they normally do after all. “I don’t know,” Mingyu said. “Do you think that there’s something wrong Hyung?” He asked Seungcheol. Looking around the apartment Seungcheol didn’t see anything out of the ordinary that would give cause for something like that. Though with the luck he’s been having recently that doesn’t mean anything. “I don’t think so, but it wouldn’t hurt any of us to go and scope out the place.” He said. “Be careful, go in pairs and whatever you do don’t go anywhere alone.” Everyone nodded and walked off in different directions. Before they could get very far, they ended up crashing into Seokmin and Jihoon. 

“Hoonie!” Soonyoung shouted as he ran up and hugged his best friend. “What.” Jihoon retorted. “We were so worried, it was dead silent when we got home.” “Oh, sorry Hyung, but we’re ok, I was in the office with Jihoon-Hyung and Shua-Hyung and Jeonghan-Hyung are in your guy’s room, I think they’re asleep.” Seokmin said. Seungcheol nodded before breaking away from the group and going to check on his two lovers. He made sure to try and keep his footsteps quiet so he doesn’t end up disturbing them if they are in fact asleep. Cracking open the door, he poked his head in to check out the room. He saw two bodies laying on the bed, both with their backs to him. He could tell by the outline of their bodies that the one closest to the door was Joshua, and the other one was Jeonghan. He went in and quietly shut the door behind. Walking around the bed he was getting ready to crawl in with his lovers when he noticed that Joshua was still awake. 

“Seungcheol?” Joshua asked. And Seungcheol could tell that he was about half asleep. “I didn’t hear you guys come in.” “We just got back, Seokmin told me that you guys were back here and I wanted to check on you.” Seungcheol said as he gently set down on the bed, and started playing with Jeonghan’s hair. “How was it?” Joshua asked. “It was ok, we got the guy and the only mishap that we had was when Gyu’d friend was hurt.” Seungcheol told him. Joshua hummed in response. “Jihoon was telling me about that, how is he?” Joshua asked. “Kwanie checked him out before we met up with his Hyungs, he just bruised his ankle from what he could see, other than that he was fine.” Seungcheol said. “How long has Hannie been asleep?” “Oh, he’s not asleep, he was freaking out so bad when he found out what happened that Jihoon had no choice but to sedate him.” Joshua told him. “Well damn.” “Yeah, he said that it got bad, and no matter how much he texted you guys it just seemed to make everything worse.” 

Seungcheol groaned at that. He was kicking himself, he should have known that Jeonghan would be freaking out over this. He had a feeling when they were texting that there was something going on. But he just pushed it aside so he could get home faster. “I should have known that something was wrong when we were texting.” Seungcheol said. “Don’t beat yourself up over this Cheol, you couldn’t have known.” Joshua told him. And he was right, Seungcheol knew that he was right, but that didn’t make him feel any better. “I know that, but it still doesn’t make me feel any better.” Joshua reached his arm over Jeonghan to Seungcheol on the other side to caress his cheek. “Babe, you couldn’t have known, one of the only people that is able to play you like that is Jeonghan, and you know that.” Joshua told him. “ I know Shua, I know, but I still can’t help but to feel bad you know?” Seungcheol said. “I mean I’m supposed to protect the two of you along with everyone else and I can’t even keep Hannie from freaking out, what kind of leader, what kind of lover am I then?” “Don’t talk like that Seungcheol, you’re a good leader and an even better lover.” Shua told him. “I love you, Hannie loves you and so do though 10 kids out there, you have nothing to worry about.” 

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In all of his years of living, Jeonghan doesn’t think that he has ever been this warm. He wasn’t sure where he was, but it felt warm. And he liked it a lot, he felt content wherever he was. He wanted to stay here forever. All that he needed was Seungcheol and Joshua and this would complete him. He just had to find them first. He wasn’t sure where he was, but he felt safe here. Though he was a little bit unnerved at the fact that he didn’t know where Seungcheol and Josh were. It probably didn’t help that the place he was at was completely pitch black. Normally he would have been losing his mind, but for some reason he felt calm. It was like the fact that he was alone and it seemed that everyone he loved had vanished meant nothing to him. Wandering around the void like space, he strangely felt at peace. Though he was confused when he saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Confused Jeonghan tired to back away from it slightly. Though the more that he backed away from it the brighter and closer that it got to him. When it got to the point that it was engulfing him he wasn’t scared. 

Opening his eyes, it took Jeonghan a minute for them to fully adjust to where he was. Groaning softly, he moved slightly and ran into something hard. Rubbing his eyes, Jeonghan moved his head and came face to face with Seungcheol’s sleeping face. He smiled softly to himself as he watched his boyfriend drool onto his pillow. He laid there and watched him for a little bit before moving over to check on Joshua. He was surprised when he looked over and he wasn’t there with them. His side of the bed was empty, though when he put his hand on the indent that his body made in the bed, it was still warm. The fact that the bed was still warm and that Joshua hadn’t been gone long made Jeonghan’ mind ease a little bit. He sighed softly to himself and relaxed back into the bed. He laid there for a few minutes before he heard the sound of the toilet flushing and running water from their bathroom. That must have been where Joshua had gone to. He rolled over again to take a look at Seungcheol while waiting for Joshua to get out of the bathroom. 

When Joshua had come out of the bathroom, he was a little shocked to see Jeonghan awake and in bed staring at him. “Jeez, Hannie you scared the crap out me!” Joshua whispered shouted as he jumped back a few feet. Placing his hand on his chest where his heart would be. “Sorry, Shua.” Jeonghan said. Though by looking at him Joshua could tell that he was still half asleep and probably didn’t even really register what was going on around him. Joshua just smiled and walked back over to the bed and climbed underneath the covers. Jeonghan turned on his side so that he was facing Joshua with his back to Seungcheol. He cuddled up to Joshua and threw his arms around him. Said Joshua was a little taken aback by this, though he wasn’t pushing Jeonghan away though. But Jeonghan normally wasn’t one to be so openly affectionate with people, even him and Seungcheol. 

Joshua was brought back out of his musings when he heard Jeonghan mumble something into his chest. “What did you say Han?” He asked him softly as he pushed some hair back behind his boyfriend’s hair. Jeonghan brought his face out his boyfriend’s neck to repeat what he said. “I said you weren’t here when I woke up I got scared.” Jeonghan told him. And he was so out of it that Joshua couldn’t help but coo at how cute he was. “I’m sorry baby, but I had to pee.” Jeonghan smiled at him softly. “It’s ok I forgive you.” Jeonghan mumbled as he laid his head on his chest. “How are you feeling?” Joshua asked him. “I don’t know,... I feel bad, but at the same time I don’t feel anything at all. Does that make any sense?” Jeonghan asked. Joshua nodded his head. “Yeah, don’t worry honey, that just means that you’re tired and you’re a little bit out of it, but that’s okay.” Joshua told him. Jeonghan just hummed in response. Joshua rubbed his back as he was waiting for him to hopefully fall back asleep so that he could get the rest that he needed. The two of them laid there in silence for awhile. Though through all of this Jeonghan was only slipping in and out of sleep and not just crashing like Joshua wanted him to. He was worried that Jeonghan wouldn’t sleep at all that night. After the upteenth time that Jeonghan had moved around Joshua spoke up again. “Hannie go to sleep.” He said in a hushed tone. Jeonghan didn’t say anything back, just put his head in the crick of Joshua’s neck. He sighed to himself. This was going to be a long night. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Woozi was confused. He was confused and he didn’t really know what to do with it. The feeling of confusion wasn’t something that he felt all that often if at all. And to make matters worse for him, he didn’t know why he was confused in the first place. He was just sitting in his office working on coding for this new virus program he was working on, and minding his own business when he felt. It took him over an hour to put words with what he was feeling. He was simply confused. At first that didn’t seem like a big deal to him, until he realized he had sat at his desk for over an hour and hasn’t gotten anything done. It had gotten to the point that he went and saved his work, shut down his laptop and just still sat there. He wasn’t really sure on what he was supposed to do with himself. It was beginning to get on his nerves. 

He was so lost in his head that he didn’t even notice when someone had opened the door to his office and came in. He didn’t notice until that person came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He jumped at the contact before whirling around to see who it was. Though the light laughter that he heard should have clued him in to who it was. “Jun?” Jihoon asked. “What are you doing here?” “I just came to check on you, is that some sort of a crime that I didn’t know about or something?” He teased him as a response. Jihoon shook his head. “No, no it’s not, you just startled me is all, I didn’t expect anyone to come in here.” He told him. Jun nodded his head in understanding before taking a seat in the empty chair next to his desk. 

“So, what are you up to this late at night?” Jun asked him. Jihoon cocked his head at him. What was he talking about. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. It read 3:23 AM on his lock screen. Woah, he didn’t know it was that late. “I was just working on coding a virus program for us to use on missions.” Jihoon answered. “It’s heavy duty so after Wonwoo or I get in and get what we need, you just plug it in and it disrupts the whole system.” Jun laughed at him softly. “And it’s programmed to be such a headache that it’ll take over a month to get rid of it.” He said with a small cackle. Jun just shook his head at him. “Well I guess you’ve been having fun then, but it’s bedtime for all the little hackers in the world at the moment.” Jun said. “Hey! We’re the same age, and I’m not little!” JIhoon yelled at him. Jun just smiled innocently at him. “That may be true but I have 5 months and 12 days on you, and at least 2 heads, so do you really want to try it?” He asked him. Jihoon huffed in response, but relented when Jun motioned for him to leave the room and head to bed. 

Begrudgingly, Jihoon left his office with Jun trailing behind him to make sure that he actually went to his room. Luckily their rooms were across the hall from each other so that made it easier to bid each other goodnight. The two of them stood in the hallway for at least 10 minutes before one of them made a move to speak to the other. “Hey, Junnie?” Jihoon called softly. Jun raised his head from where he was looking at the carpeted hallway beneath their feet. “Yes, Hoon?” He said in a whisper. Neither one of them wanted to be on the receiving end of Jeonghan’s wrath if they woke him up and he realized that they were up at ungodly hours of the night. “I never did ask you this,” Jihoon said. “Why were you awake tonight, is everything alright?” Jun just smiled in return, but it wasn’t really reaching his eyes all the way like they normally did. “Oh, there was no reason I was just up to check and see if you were awake or not.” He told him. And Jihoon didn’t really know why but all of a sudden the feeling of confusion was back, and it had his head spinning a little. And there was something else there too, but he wasn’t quite sure what it was. But it made his heart pound and his whole body feel tingly. He didn’t like it at all. 

Realizing that he was taking too long to answer him Jihoon came back to reality. “Well, thank you Junhui, I appreciate it.” He said softly. Jun just laughed softly in response. “It’s no problem Hoon, now let’s get to bed before Jeonghan-Hyung has our heads.” Jun said as he opened his bedroom door. “Goodnight Jihoon.” He said as he closed the door behind him. “Goodnight Junhui.” Jihoon said from the hallway. He actually didn’t go back into his room until a few minutes after the door closed behind Jun. Finally, he was able to work up the nerve to open the door to the room that he slept in with the others. He did in fact go to bed that night, but he didn’t sleep at all. He laid awake all night, just staring up at his ceiling. He didn’t know why he was feeling the way that he was, but it was driving him mad. He couldn’t get any work done like this. He had 12 other people who entrusted their lives to them, he couldn’t let them down. Turning over and punching his pillow a couple of times he came to the conclusion that he was just done. He had to clear his head to be able to protect the ones that he loved. He couldn’t let the Hyungs down, and he couldn’t let the kids get hurt. Most of all he didn’t want Jun to get hurt…. Wait a minute. OH SHIT. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Weeks have gone by since that job and things have gotten back to normal for everyone. They ate, slept, trained, and worked jobs. They had about 2 more clients since the last one that went very smoothly. And Jeonghan was able to actually partake in the last job before this one. It was good to have him back in the swing of things. Once he was cleared by Seungcheol and Joshua he was back to helping them plan for the jobs. What people don’t realize is that Jeonghan has more of a roll in planning out their jobs than what you would think. Most of the time even before Seungcheol brings the job and the mark up before the whole group he gives a copy of everything to Jihoon, Soonyoung, and Jeonghan. Jihoon, Soonyoung, and Seungcheol would spend the time formulating a plan of action. While Jeonghan would isolate himself off from the rest of the household to study the mark. Jeonghan is also a whole lot smarter than people give him credit for, and his ability to read people is downright terrifying. Jeonghan is really good at reading people, and based on what information the person gives him knowingly or not he is always able to find a way to manipulate the mark to where they want them. 

Everyone was feeling the high of having all of their members back with them still. And they all were also happy to have their Hyung back. Jeonghan is sort of like the mother of their team, he’s always going behind Seungcheol to make sure that everyone’s ok. Like Seungcheol has mentioned many times before Jeongahn and Joshua are sort of like the co-leaders with him. They’re always there for the members when he can’t be, and they pick up where he slacks off. And for that Seungcheol is eternally grateful. It was really times like these that Seungcheol really was in love with the two of them. He swears to himself every night before he goes to sleep that one day he’s going to make the two of them his and spend the rest of their lives together. He knows that Jeonghan and Joshua are the ones for him, there’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. He’s had plenty of dreams about having a family with the two of them. Wonderful children running around the house. They would have Jeonghan’s mischievous eyes, and Joshua’s beautiful smile. But they didn’t have any time to dwell on it though. At the moment they still had a job to do. 

Moving on back to the topic at hand here, they’ve been pretty busy for the last little bit here. Currently they’re on a job dealing with a dirty diamond dealer. His name was Piere La Fonte. He’s from France originally but moved to Seoul to try and expand his business. But he’s been using his business as a front for money laundry for the French and South Korean mobs. It’s a dirty and very dangerous business. One of their employees a Mr. Eric Nam had approached them one day with reports of these mysterious transactions that he had found when he was counting the receipts. Mr. Nam was the book keeper for one of the diamond stores that was being used as a front. He was too scared to go to the police with what he knew so he found Seungcheol instead. When they met in person he had told Seungcheol that he was recommended to him by a ‘friend.’ It was a little bit ominous, but everyone agreed that they couldn’t just leave him. They had to help him, if they didn’t help him then there's a more than likely chance that his boss would find out and kill him. 

And that has led them to where they are now. They’ve been planning this job for 3 weeks now. The plan is all based around this diamond expo that La Fonte is hosting. Basically he’s just boasting about his diamonds, and all of the other rich people stuff that he has collected over the years. And to make things better,the diamonds that he’ll be displaying are the ones that he’s been using the money that both of the mobs have been giving him to buy them. What the two mob families don’t know is that La Fonte has been screwing them over. According to all of the background searches that Woozi and Wonwoo have done, all of the money that has been given to him he’s used to fund his very extravagant lifestyle. If it were to ever get out that he was doing this then it would spell disaster not only for his businesses but for his life as well. And that was exactly what they were doing here tonight. It was time to put their plan into action. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“I do hope that the wine isn’t too sweet for your taste Mr. Moon.” La Fonte said, as he poured some wine into a glass for Jeonghan. Or Mr. Seungri Moon as he is being known as for tonight. His part of the job was to cozy up really close to the mark and get him drunk enough to where it would take him a little while to notice if all of his diamonds and collectibles just got up and walked out of the house. For Jeonghan the easy part was to get him drunk. When he was working up a profile on La Fonte it didn’t take him long to realize that beside the fact that he was an avid businessman, he’s also a big party person. It doesn’t take much to get the man to have a drink, and even less to convince him to throw a party just for the heck of it. The hard part though, is keeping La Fonte’s hands to himself. One thing that Jeonghan had learned about the mark was that La Fonte is openly gay and not afraid to show it. So at first it seemed pretty easy to get in, based on the facts alone Jeonghan was his type. Though it was just his luck that La Fonte was a happy and touchy-feely drunk. And the more Jeonghan got him drunk the more he flirted with him. It was going to be a long night. “Oh, no, no it’s fine.” Jeonghan said. “I’ve never tried this type of wine before it’s actually pretty good if I do say so, though.” La Fonte laughed at that. “And how many times must I tell you this, call me Seungri, it’s only fair if you insist that I call you Pier.” 

The mark just laughed at that, and you could tell that he was beyond wasted from just how shrill and obnoxious it was. And the worse part is that they’ve only been talking with each other for 45 minutes. Jeonghan knew going in that he was probably already drinking but he didn’t think that it was this bad. Another fun fact about Jeonghan is that while he is one of the members that has a high alcohol tolerance even though he’s one of the smallest members, he hates drinking. He’s never mentioned this to the others before but in his defence they never asked and he’s pretty good at faking it. Regardless, he can’t wait to go home and sleep. He hasn't been in the best of moods lately he’ll admit, and part of that reason is that he’s suffering from a very severe and persistent bout of insomnia. And it didn’t help that him, Seungcheol, and Joshua have all been at odds with each other for the past week. This spat was over nothing new, Seungcheol and Joshua wanted him to go back to seeing Irene for counseling, and Jeonghan is still very hesitant to go back. 

He was brought out of his head when he heard the mark call his name. “Seungri-ssi, are you alright?” Pier asked him. “Hmm, oh I’m so terribly sorry Mr. La Fonte, I guess my mind was in another place, I sincerely apologize.” Jeonghan told him. He had to get his head cleared to be able to keep himself in the game. He didn’t need something else to get into a fight with Joshua and Seungcheol with. “Oh, don’t worry about my friend, it’s how do the Americans say it? It’s all good in the hood, no?” Jeonghan just laughed at that. “Well, I do hope that your whole entire evening hasn’t been a complete bust because of me.” Jeonghan told him. “No, not at all, I really have quite enjoyed your company this evening, Seungri-ssi, I do hope that we can do this more often.” La Fonte said. “And I think that it’ll be even easier now since I’ve moved to Seoul permanently for the time being.” “We might be able to do that, but I’ll have to check my work schedule first, my boss is always one for keeping me on my toes. I never know where I’m going to be or what I’m doing.” La Fonte laughed at him. And there was a look in his eye that Jeonghan was all too familiar with. Drunken lust. Jeonghan was very happy at that moment when one of the security guards came up and whispered something in his ear. Jeonghan saw the mark’s face darken before he plastered on his drunken smile again. “I am so sorry Seungri-ssi, I have an unexpected urgent matter to attend to, I am so sorry again.” Pier said as he stood up from his chair and moved to leave. “I do hope that we can meet again after.” He turned back around and bent down to take Jeonghan’s hand and gave it a kiss. “I do hope that I’m not being too forward, but I find you highly attractive Seungri-ssi.” He told him as he moved around to go back out the door. 

Jeonghan just sighed to himself in relief when he saw that the mark was far out of both ear shot and sight. He rolled his neck to get it to pop, and moved to press his comm in his ear. “I take it that our mark found the little ‘present’ that Woozi and Hoshi had left for him.” Jeonghan asked. “Yeah, he should be finding what we left him right about now, you might want to get out of there Hyung.” Wonwoo told him over the link. Wonwoo had come down with some stomach issues. At first he wrote it off as nothing since he is prone to getting sick a lot. He was refusing to have anyone look at him until Jeonghan found out and got on his ass about it. So he agreed to go in with Joshua during his shift the next day to see what was wrong with him. Turns out he has a pretty nasty case of gastritis. Which meant that in Seungcheol’s book he wasn’t allowed to go out on any missions until he was cleared by a doctor other than the 3 med students that lived with them. Which meant that Woozi and him switched places for the time being. Woozi was less than thrilled, but they didn’t really have a choose in the matter here. “So how are you doing Wonwoo-ah?” Jeonghan asked him as he made to leave the room as fast as possible. “I’m fine Hyung, I promise, my stomach only aches just a little bit, and I’ve been following my treatment plan all day don’t worry.” Wonwoo told him. “ You have more important things to do like meeting up with Seungcheol-Hyung before the mark comes back and start looking for you.” Jeonghan huffed and rolled his eyes. “Well excuse me for worrying about my dongsaeng.” Jeonghan told him sarcastically. “I know you worry Hyung and I appreciate it very much, but Woozi stole the harddrive so we’re kind of in a hurry now.” “Alright, I’m going, I’m going.” Jeonghan muttered. “Geez, kids these days.” As he went to go find their leader. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Once everyone got home they all just sort of dispersed out into the apartment. Woozi went into the office where Wonwoo was camped out to go see if they could decode the harddrive that they stole. The plan was after they got the guy arrested they were going to leak all of his records that they could find and leak them on the internet. Minghao went straight to the shower, with Soonyoung, and Chan on his tail to try and beat him there. Mingyu went into the kitchen to cook some food, Jun followed after to try and get some tea to drink. Hansol just dropped face down on the couch and went to sleep. Jeonghan had disappeared into their bedroom, and with all three med students at the hospital, that left Seungcheol standing in the middle of the apartment like an idiot. Sighing to himself he just decided to go and sit in the living room with Hansol, since he wasn’t in the mood to go and hash it out with Jeonghan without Joshua here as back up. 

As soon as he sat down on the chair Hansol moved to sit up on the couch. “Everything ok Coups-Hyung?” He asked him. Seungcheol smiled to himself and sighed. Ah, how he loved that kid so much. Hansol, despite his tendencies for spacing out and saying the most random things in both English and Korean, he’s a very thoughtful and caring guy. Whenever Hansol Joined their little crew, he sort of took the poor kid under his wing. He felt bad for the kid, he was lost and alone in a strange city that he had never been in before. All of his family was back in Busan since his grandmother was sick. He had convinced his family to let him stay behind to get a job to try and help out with the medical bills. He got roped into running with one of the many wrong crowds that are located all over Seoul, and they had just happened to run into him by a freak accident on a job one time. The poor kid had no clue that he had gotten himself into drup running, and freaked out when confronted about it. He ended going home with them that night when they got caught by the guys that Hansol was working for, had tried to kill him. They were able to get everyone out and away from them with minimal injuries. They were trying to figure out what to do with him when Jeonghan had told him point blank that they were taking him home and that was the end of that argument. 

“Hyung?” Hansol’s voice was what brought Seungcheol out of the past and back to the present. He shook his head to clear his mind so that he could properly talk to him. “Uh, sorry, Sol, I was lost in my head there for a bit, what were you saying?” Seungcheol asked him. “ I asked you if you were ok Hyung, you seem kind of out of it.” Hansol told him. “Does this have something to do with what’s going on with you Jeonghan-Hyung and Joshua-Hyung?” Seungcheol paused for a moment. Man this kid was way smarter than people gave him credit for, being clean and tidy on the other hand, well he’s working on that part. He’s making progress too, as long as Seungkwan doesn’t end up killing him for leaving his dirty underwear on his bed again. That did not end well last time. “Uh, well…, ok I’m not going to lie to you Sol.” Seungcheol told him honestly. What kind of leader was he if he didn’t trust his own team enough to be able to talk and discuss things with each other. “The three of us have been sort of arguing with each other for a couple of days.” “What about Hyung?” Hansol asked him. Man, this was going to be a long conversation. 

“Well, um Sol, do you remember a little while ago where Hannie was having a lot of trouble?” He asked him. Hansol nodded his head in understanding. Though that was kind of a stupid question to ask, since none of the other members could forget that. It was a very rough and trying time for everyone in SEVENTEEN. “Well, um after he went in for treatment when he caught food poisoning from the last job that he did before that, Shua and I noticed that he was having trouble again.” Seungcheol told him. “We all three sat down to talk about it and Shua asked him if he would be ok to go and talk to Irene-Noona again. Hannie didn’t take it too well.” He confessed. “And you’ve all been tense with each other ever since.” Hansol finished for him. “But I don’t understand, I know that Hyung didn’t like going to therapy, but I thought that he really liked Irene-Noona though?” Seungcheol just shrugged. “Hannie, is very stubborn you got to give him that. And I think he will end up going, because I know he doesn’t want things to escalate like last time. And he knows that Shua and I won’t drop it until he does, and he doesn’t want us to be mad at him or anything.” Seungcheol told him. “And I just feel bad about it, I know that he doesn’t do this on purpose or anything but I just want him to be ok.” Seungcheol huffed out in frustration. “I just want him to be happy! Is that too much to ask? Don’t you think he deserves to be happy?! I do!” Seungcheol spoke as he ranted to Hansol. “No, it’s not, and you’re right Jeonghan-Hyung deserves to be happy after all that he’s been through.” Hansol said. And his words made Seungcheol pause for a moment. Did he know? 

“Sol, how much do you know about Han before he joined us?” Seungcheol asked. It’s not that they were trying to hide things from the rest of the members or anything but Jeonghan was always just too nervous to tell anyone about his childhood. And Seungcheol doesn’t blame it for him either. “I mean,.. Well, um, ok you have to promise not to get mad at Chan ok?” Hansol told him. “He didn’t mean to say anything, it’s just that when Hyung was in that really bad place last time, Chan was freaking out, and it was late at night and only Seungkwan and I were around.” Hansol told him. “And you know how Kwannie is, he wanted to make sure that Chan was ok, and he told us a little bit.” Seungcheol took a few minutes to figure out his actions. He wasn’t mad at his little brother by any means, but he was still a little apprehensive of what was told. “Don’t worry, I’m not mad, I just want to know what he told you.” Seungcheol said. “Some of the stuff that Channie knows about Hannie are things that a kid his age should never have to worry about.” Hansol took a deep breath before he answered his eldest Hyung. “I know that his step-father was a drunk, and he was addicted to gambling and who else knows what. I also know that he wasted all of the money that his family had, and that’s how Hyung got started on grifting. And I know that he used to beat on Hyung when he wouldn’t give him the money that he made, or when he would try to stand up to him.” Hansol told him. “Anything else?” Seungcheol asked him. “I know that the night that Hyung joined the group was really bad for him and that he was covered in bruises, even though he tried to hide them so that Chan couldn’t see him.” Hansol told him. “ And I know that Chan was terrified that night, probably even more so than what happened all those years ago.” Hansol told him. It took a few minutes before Seungcheol would say anything. “Sol, come here.” He finally said. Hansol came over to the chair that he was sitting in and that was when Seungcheol grabbed him and pulled him into a big bear hug. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Turning the water off in the shower, Jeonghan sighed to himself as he leaned against the tiled wall. He was kicking himself at the moment. What for, the list could go on and on for a while. He’s so stupid! He should have just kept his mouth shut whenever Joshua brought up seeing Irene again. He knew that he was overreacting, but at that time he didn’t really care. And it’s not that he didn’t want to go and see Irene, he actually liked her a lot, he just didn’t want to go to therapy in the first place last time. It’s just that he’s scared. He’s terrified at what he’ll end up telling her, and how that will affect his relationship with Joshua and Seungcheol. Jeonghan knows in his heart that he loves both of his boyfriends to death, and he also knows that both of his boyfriends love him back equally if not more than that. He also knows that regardless of what comes out through therapy or anything else that their opinion of him won’t change and they just won’t stop loving him all of a sudden. The logical part of his brain knows that, but there’s this small, dark part of his mind that begs to differ. He knows that what that part of his mind tells him isn’t true, his paranoia just likes to drive him insane with it. Which has led to the majority of the fights and disagreements that he’s had with Joshua and Seungcheol. 

And the worse part of everything is that he knows that he needs to go and see Irene again desperately. He knows that he needs help, but he just can’t get himself to go and get help when he needs it. It’s a problem that he's had for a very, very long time. And he can tell you where they all stem from. All of his life, his step-father or the man that was supposed to be his father always put him down. Jeonghan could never do anything right, he was just always a problem or a nusicane. And more likely than not he was told that he should just leave and never come back. It was a rough childhood and he tries to do everything that he can to try to forget it. The most likely choices that he has to do for people like him are either drugs or alcohol. And because of his step-father he’s not too keen on it, and he got with Seungcheol before he could ever change his mind. Sighing to himself he decided that it was time to stop standing around in the shower naked, he was getting too cold for it. He just wanted to go to sleep and forget that any of this had happened. 

Once he was out and fully dressed, he walked out into the bedroom and flopped down face first on his bed. And he knows that he probably should have dried his hair better before he had gone to bed, but he didn’t really feel like it at the moment. Groaning he turned over on his back and stared up at the ceiling. He crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. He really feels awful about the fight that he got into with Joshua and Seungcheol, but he doesn’t know how to get to the point where he could apologize. He knows that he messed up really bad this time, and he just really doesn’t know how to go about fixing it this time. He really doesn’t want them to break up and he knows that they probably won’t, but he can’t help but think about it. He rolled over on his side to grab his phone off of the nightstand. He checked the time and it was only a little after 11, Joshua, Seokmin and Seungkwan should be getting home any minute now. They got out at 10:30pm. He huffed and rolled over, he was restless, and he didn’t know what to do with himself. 

Giving up on lying down, Jeonghan got up from the bed and went to the closet that a;; three of them shared. He went searching through the racks of the sweatshirts for about 15 minutes before he found what he wanted. It was an old, kind of ratty sweatshirt of Seungcheol’s that he’s had for forever. He ripped it off the hanger, and took a sniff of it. It smelled like the laundry detergent that Mingyu loves, and Seungcheol’s smokey wood sent. He pulled away slightly puzzled at something else that he smelt on it. He took a second whiff and realized what it was. It was cigarettes! Jeonghan couldn’t believe it! He thought that him and Joshua had finally convinced Seungcheol to stop smoking and everything. That bastard! Ooh, when he gets his hands on him….! With a slump of his shoulders Jeonghan held the sweatshirt in his hands. He had told Seungcheol time and time again that those damn cigarettes of his would kill him one of these days, but he never listens to him. But there was the fact that regardless of whether he smoked or not, his scent was still pretty comforting, and Jeonghan really needed that right now. 

Finally ending his internal debate over rather or not he should wear it, he gave in and put it on. Almost instantly he felt 10 times better than he did beforehand. After that he bent down and went rummaging through all of the stuff that was at the bottom of the closet. It took a few more minutes but he finally found it. He pulled out this big, fuzzy, and fluffy blue blanket that Joshua’s mother gave him for his last birthday. The two of them fight over it constantly over who gets to use it since it’s so soft. Carrying it in his arms Jeonghan climbed back onto the bed, and draped the blanket over himself and laid down in the middle of the bed. He snuggled down and before he knew he fell asleep. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Joshua let out a sigh of relief when he looked at the clock and saw that it was finally time for him to go home. He was dead tired after working overtime for the past 4 days in a row. He was beyond exhausted and all that he wanted to do was to go home and sleep with his two boyfriends, he didn’t care if Jeonghan was mad at him or not. Cracking his back as he walked to the locker room to get his stuff to go and meet Seungkwan and Seokmin, he paused when he heard his name being called. “Joshua!” He turned around to see Dr. Bae Juhyun, or Irene as she is known throughout the hospital after getting her degree in America. She’s the hospital’s resident psychologist and counselor for everyone in the building. And she also helped them out just about over a year ago when Jeonghan got really bad and needed someone to talk to on a professional level. She really did them a huge favor and he couldn’t be more grateful for her. 

“Yes Noona, is something wrong?” Joshua asked as he stopped so that she had a chance to catch up to him. She took a few minutes to catch her breath before speaking to him properly. “No, no nothing’s wrong Jisoo-ah, I just wanted to check up on you.” She told him. “Want me to walk with you to the locker rooms?” She asked him. “Sure, that’s no problem Noona, and I’m assuming that you want to talk with me?” Joshua asked her with a knowing look. “Why yes you’ve hit it on the head this time Josh, but you know what they say about assuming most of the time. And I know that you’re going home with Seokmin and Seungkwan and I didn’t want to be the cause of them waiting for you.” She told him. The young med student just nodded his head as the two of them made their way down to the locker room. “So, would I also be correct to guess that the thing that you wanted to talk to me about had something to do with a certain stubborn lover of mine wouldn’t it?” She hummed in response. “Right again you are, my dear friend. How is he by the way, have you convinced him to come in yet?” “No, we haven’t the last time that Seungcheol and I brought it up. He got defensive and blew up at us, we really haven’t been the same ever since.” Joshua told him. 

Irene just shook her head and crossed her arms across her chest. “All of that progress that we made last time..” She muttered. Joshua smiled at her sadly and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I know Noona, but you know how he is, but if it’s any consolation I can tell you what set off this backslide of his.” Joshua told him. Irene’s head perked up at that, she seemed interested in what he had to say. “What happened, is he ok?” She asked him. “This happened about a couple of months ago, he had a nightmare one night and he hasn't been the same ever since.” Josha told him. Irene nodded her head as she was taking notes about it on her phone. “Did Jeonghan-ah tell you what the dream was about?” Irene asked him. “Did he tell you or Seungcheol-ah anything at all?” “No not really, the only thing that I could get out of him was that it had something to do with his step-father.” Irene hummed again as she was typing more on her phone. “Well, that’s a step in the right direction.” Irene told him. “Do you think that you’ll be able to convince him to come back and talk to me some?” She asked him. “It doesn’t have to be like last time, I just want to do a mental health check-in to see if anything needs to be adjusted.” Irene told him. “I don’t know, I think he will, but I can’t be for certain.” Josha said. “I just want him to be happy you know? After everything that he’s been through doesn’t he deserve that?” Irene gave him a look and went and hugged him. “I know Jisoo-ah, he deserves the world. But that’s why he has you and Seungcheol-ah.” Irene told him. “No, go home and be with your men, I’ve kept you long enough.” Irene told him. “And that’s an order.” Joshua smiled at her, “Yes, Noona, I’ll see you tomorrow.” They parted ways after that. 

It only took him about 10 minutes to get all of his stuff ready before he was down in the lobby meeting up with Seungkwan and Seokmin. “Hi Hyung!” They yelled in unison. Both of them were already dressed and ready to go, all that they needed was him. “Sorry it took me a while, Irene-Noona stopped me on the way out to chat.” He told him. Both of the younger boys nodded their heads in agreement. All three of them headed out the door together. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Seungkwan broke the silence. “Is everything ok Hyung?” Seungkwan asked him. Joshua turned to look at him and his heart just clenched. Seungkwan looked so upset at the fact that there could be something wrong that he didn’t know about. And that was something that Joshua loved about his dongsaeng. Seungkwan was so caring and he loved all of the members to death and he did everything he could to help take care of them regardless of whether they were older than him or not. “Yeah, well, I’m not going to lie about anything to either or you two, but things aren’t the best between me, Jeonghan, and Seungcheol at the moment, but things are going to get better, trust me.” Joshua told them. He moved while they were walking until he was standing in the middle of his dongsaengs and brought them into a big group hug. All three of them smiled at each other as they headed to the bus stop to take them home. It was the end of a very long day and they couldn’t be more happy to go home, and be with their family. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

It took him what felt like forever to get this done, but Jihoon was finally able to crack open that hard drive that they had stolen from the diamond dealer, and money launder. The information that he had found on it was very interesting to say the least. It contained a list of times and dates of shipments and meet ups. It also showed a lot of contact information of those who were involved in the ring. Though he did find something very interesting on the drive. It was an image of a red cherry blossom flower, from the design and detail of it looked to be someone’s family crest or something. He’s never seen it before, and he didn’t really know what to do with it. It had finally gotten to the point that he had done all that the damage that he could do to it. He sighed and got out of his chair. He unplugged the drive from his computer before he left the room. He was going to try and find Seungcheol or Wonwoo to give it to them to see what they could make out of what he’s found and if they could get anymore out of it than he could. 

Walking out of the office and into the living room he easily found both of the members that he was looking for. He saw Wonwoo walking out of the kitchen with a glass of water in his hand. And Seungcheol was sitting in the living room talking to Joshua. Huh, him, Seungkwan, and Seokmin must have just gotten from their shift at the hospital then. Man he must have really been in the zone if he didn’t hear them come in. He walked closer into the room so that they would take better notice of him. “Hyung.” Jihoon called as he came farther into the room. Seungcheol turned his head to the sound of his name being called. “Yes, Hoonie, did you find something?” He asked him. During this time Wonwoo had walked over to the couch to be able to hear what was going on. “Yeah, I found a lot of good info, and I leaked some of the good bits that would put the asshole in the most hot water possible.” Jihoon informed him. “Good job, Hoonie, anything else?” Seungcheol asked him. “Yeah, I found this really weird picture on the drive.” Jihoon told him. “It was a picture of a cherry blossom, it looks like some sort of family crest or insignia or something.” He said. Seungcheol motioned for him and Wonwoo to come closer so that they could figure this out. “Babe, you want to see this too, or are you going to bed?” Seungcheol asked Joshua, who had his head resting on his shoulder. You could tell that he was exhausted and he hadn’t even changed out of his scrubs yet. “I think I’ll go clean up, check up on Hannie, and go to bed.” He told Seungcheol. He kissed his lover on the cheek, and got up off of the couch. “Night, love you.” “Love you too, I’ll be to bed after we’re done with this.” 

Once Joshua had disappeared down the hallway, Seungcheol turned back towards the two hackers on his team. “Ok, let’s see what we’ve got here.” Seungcheol said. Jihoon got up and motioned for his leader and Wonwoo to follow him back to the office. It didn’t take long for Jihoon to set everything up again and lock back in. After a few minutes he was able to pull up the picture on his screen. “This is what I found, I’ve never seen it before, and it doesn’t really look like anything that would be associated with the people that we deal with.” Jihoon told them. The two other men looked at the image on the screen. “I’ve never seen it before either, have you done a boarden search on it yet?” Seungcheol asked. “That was what I was going to do after I showed it to you guys.” “You don’t need to do that Jihoon.” Wonwoo told him. The two others turned their heads to look at their friend. He looked, for lack of a better term pissed off. And that is something very hard to do to Wonwoo. He’s a calm, caring, and typically shy person, he normally acts as the cool level headed person in the situation if Seungcheol isn't there. “Why? Have you seen this before Won?” Seungcheol asked him. “Yeah I have.” He said blankly. “Where?” Jihoon asked him. “ That’s the logo for Jeon industries.” Wonwoo told them. “That’s my parents.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Joshua took a deep breath before he turned the door knob of the door that stood between him and his room. It’s not that he’s scared or anything, it’s just that he didn’t want to have it out with Jeonghan again without Seungcheol there to back him up. But he sucked it up and opened the door slowly. He poked his head in through the crack to see what was going on. Scanning his eyes around the room, it looked like Jeonghan had fallen asleep with the lights on again. He chuckled softly to himself at the sight of a big lump in the middle of their bed. He stepped into the room fully and headed for the bathroom so that he could get ready for bed. Looking over at the bed as he walked by his heart melted at the sight. By the looks of it, it seemed that Joeonghan had gone and raided their closet, if the blanket that his mother had given him for his last birthday was anything to go by. And he, if he was a betting man, which by the way he wasn’t, he would bet that Jeonghan has one of Seungcheol’s sweatshirts on underneath the blanket. 

He shook his head to himself as he walked into the ensuite. He ended up taking about 20 or so minutes to get ready for bed. He came out of the bathroom, feeling more refreshed and relaxed than he had all day. It felt nice, with the day that he’s had at the hospital he just wanted to come home and unwind a little bit. After cleaning up his stuff in the bathroom he turned off the light and moved to climb into the bed. Plugging up his phone, he sat down on the bed. After that was done he moved to pull the covers back when he realized that they weren’t budging. He went to see what was wrong when he noticed that Jeonghan was asleep on top of the covers. He sighed to himself, well now he had to figure out a way to get underneath the covers without waking Jeonghan up. Carefully he tried to roll Jeonghan over on the bed to see if he could access the covers. All that did was make Jeonghan roll in the opposite direction towards him. After about 5 minutes of trying Joshua realized that Jeonghan wouldn’t budge. So he just gave up and lifted the blanket up and crawled underneath with him. 

As soon as Joshua had pulled the fuzzy blanket over the two of them, Jeonghan rolled over and clung on to him. For a minute there Joshua thought that he had woken him, but listening to his breathing pattern he was still asleep. Joshua just started to card his fingers through his lover’s hair. It still felt a little bit damp, so he probably had just gotten out of the shower before going to bed. He could also see that Jeonghan had stolen one of Seungcheol’s sweatshirts. It was something that Jeonghan normally did when he was stressed out or overwhelmed. He would go and take some piece of clothing or something like that and wear it. Joshua’s pretty sure that he uses it as a coping mechanism, since on more than one occasion has told them that he finds his and Seungcheol’s scents very calming to him. He also feels bad about it since he now knows that their argument has pushed him over the edge that he needed something to help calm him down. 

Joshua moves to kiss the temple of Jeonghan’s head, and brushes the hair back out of the older’s face a little bit. He laids there for a while just admiring his lover’s face. He could make out the dark, and very prominent circles underneath Jeonghan’s eyes. Joshua hasn’t seen them that large since well over a year ago. He hates this, he really does. He hates the fact that someone that he really loves and cares about has to go through something horrible like this. Sometimes he wonders what it would be like to go and confront Jeonghan’s stepfather. He wants to ask him why? Why would he hurt someone who he was supposed to take care of like their own child. Why would he hurt someone like Jeonghan, who never did anything wrong. The only thing that Jeonghan was guilty of was trying to protect and take care of his family. It just astounds him that someone would hurt their child by blood or not to the extent that Jeonghan was. He’s not stupid, he knows. Jeonghan told them that he was abused heavily at the hands of his stepfather. But Joshua knows that he didn’t tell them everything. Now, rather or not Seungcheol’s figure out what exactly happened, because he knew more was going on than Jeonghan was telling them, he didn’t know. But It sickens him at just the thought of that bastard laying a single finger anywhere on Jeonghan’s body. 

Everything that man did to him is the reason that they were in this situation in the first place. His stepfather destroyed Jeonghan’s self confidence. He belittled him, and humiliated him, and everything else under the sun. He took a bright, shy, and slightly timid young man with a good heart, and turned him into a completely different person than he was before. Joshua realized what was going on not that long after he started hanging around everyone. He noticed the signs of a trauma victim. He’s pretty sure that the trauma that he experienced is part of the reason why he seems so closed off to people. He’s very nervous around new people and even if he doesn’t show it, he is. Jeonghan is just that good of an actor. He has trouble with touch, and more likely than not he waits for you to do something before he will. And he has anxiety that deals not only with people, loud noises, but separation, and more likely than not if there’s a job involving a casino or something he won’t sleep until the job is over. He sighs to himself again. He just wants what’s best for one of the men that he loves. Is that too much to ask for really? 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm shocked too, another update 3 days after the last one? Well anyway time to get onto the disclaimers. Things get a little real, and dark in this chapter. So if you think that any of this could possibly trigger you I recommend that you head the tags, and please don't do anything that can cause you harm. This work is purely fiction and nothing that happens to the characters are real. I hope that everyone is having a good time in their quaarintine, and that everyone is staying safe out there. And the only thing that I own is the plot and any ocs that I can come up with. Have a happy day !   
> -N.

Chapter 9 

“What do you mean that this is your family?!” Seungcheol asked Wonwoo. After the great big bombshell that he just dropped a minute ago he just went quiet. Jihoon and Seungcheol just looked at each other in awe. The people that they’re after now are Wonwoo’s family? I mean they knew beforehand that Wonwoo came from a family of money and stuff, but they never knew that they were criminals or anything. “It’s just like I said to Hyung, that’s my family’s crest, I should, I’ve spent my whole childhood staring at it.” Wonwoo told them. “My parents run one of the biggest loan sharking rings in the country.” Seungcheol and Jihoon just looked at him. In all of the years that they have known Wonwoo they’ve never told him this fact about himself. All that he would ever say about his nuclear family unit was that they never got along and that they were always assholes to everyone he was friends with. “I’m going to tell the two of you this right now since you’re giving that ‘look.’” Wonwoo told them sternly. “I don’t want any pity or anything alright, my parents are criminals and even bigger assholes, I was finally to leave and get out from underneath their thumb when I met you guys. I’ve never regretted that decision and I’d do it again in a heartbeat if I had to.” 

The confession stunned the other two in the room. They knew that Wonwoo’s family was very different compared to their own but they never thought it was that bad. “If you need to talk about this, you know that you can come to anyone of us ok Won?” Seungcheol told him. “Thank you Hyung, but I’m over it, I just want to know the info that Jihoon found so we can figure out where to go from there.” Wonwoo told them. “Well, Hoon, what do you have?” Seungcheol asked him to change the topic of conversation. “Not a whole lot actually, all that I’ve managed to find on their files and pull from the drive it seems like they were partners with La Fonte.” Jihoon said. “And by the amount of money that went back and forth between the two parties they are or well were in very deep with him.” “Yeah, that sounds about right, my family is really good at making ‘charitable contributions’ to people.” Wonwoo told them. Jihoon hummed at that as he continued to click some more keys on his computer. “Well, I looked into more of your parents' contributions and I’d say that it's a good guess that they’re the ones helping him out with all of the money laundering.” Jihoon told him. “That’s as far as I’ve gotten with it, I’ve spent most of my time leaking info and figuring out the mob contacts.” “Do you think that your parents could be involved with any organized crime?” Seungcheol asked him. “I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were.” Wonwoo told them. 

The three of them just sat there for a few minutes before one of them talked again. “So, what are we going to do about them?’ Wonwoo asked him. Seungcheol took a few minutes to consider his thoughts before answering. “I’m not sure yet to be honest with you Wonwoo.” Seungcheol told him. “We’ll have to look a little bit more into this before we come up with any concrete plan.” Wonwoo nodded his head in understanding. “Ok, well if you need any information then just come and ask me, I’ve spent years hacking into their software and stuff, I know how their system works.” Wonwoo said. “Thanks Won, but you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to, I’m sure that Woozi could find it on their own.” Seungcheol told him. “Yeah I can start working on it now,” Jihoon paused when Suengcheol slapped him on the back. “Ok I can look into it tomorrow when I’ve gotten some sleep and see what we can do.” Jihoon told him. Wonwoo nodded his head. “Ok, I think that’s enough excitement for today, it’s time to turn in for the night.” And with that all three of them turned in for the night. 

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Seungcheol rolled his neck as he walked into his bedroom. He let out a pleased groan as he felt his neck give a satisfying pop. But he had a small smile on his face as he saw his two lovers asleep on the bed. It looked like they were snuggled up together under the blanket that Joshua’s mother gave him for his last birthday. It was a cute site that just melted his heart. If Chan were there he would politely and loudly tell him that he was whipped. But he didn’t really care, he was in love so sue him. He quietly walked past the two others who were asleep, and towards the bathroom to wash up. About 5 minutes later he came back out again and walked over to the bed. As he got to his side of the bed he caught a glimpse of the bedside clock. It read 2:03 am. Man he didn’t realize that it would take that long.

As he sat down on the bed he heard a groan behind him. He paused in his movements, he was hoping that he hadn’t woken one of them up. Especially Jeonghan, he knew that the other man hadn’t been sleeping that much these past few weeks since he was being plagued by his nightmares and night terrors again. Jeonghan needed all of the sleep that he could possibly get until they found a solution to his problems. He really hated to see him suffer and he knows that Joshua feels the same way too. It’s just hard to get through to him sometimes. “Cheol?” He was brought out of his trance when he heard Joshua call his name. “Yeah, sorry did I wake you up?” He whispered, so that he wouldn’t wake up Jeonghan who was dead asleep in the middle of them. “No, you didn't. I've been going in and out of it all night.” Joshua told him softly. He looked over and checked the time on his phone. “Are you just now getting to bed? It’s almost 3 in the morning.” He chided him. Seungcheol looked sheepish as he rubbed his neck. “Yeah we kind of lost track of the time since what Jihoonie found was so big.” Seungcheol told him. “Really? What did he find?” Joshua asked him. “What did he find?” He asked again when Seungcheol didn’t answer him the first time. “It’s something that we have to go over together as a group once we catch Soonyoung up and Wonwoo gives the ok.” Seungcheol told him. Joshua knew from his tone that it wasn’t his place to ask what Wonwoo had to go with it and decided to drop it. Once they figured out what they were doing he knew that he’d go over it with him and Jeonghan before telling the rest of the kids. 

“So, do you know how long he’s been asleep?” Seungcheol asked him as he rolled over to look at them. Joshua just shrugged slightly trying not to wake Jeonghan up. “Don’t know, he was asleep in the middle of the bed when I came in here hours ago.” Joshua told him. Seungcheol sighed in response. This wasn’t good, Jeonghan had been isolating himself from them all week. It was driving Seungcheol crazy, he was worried out of his mind for him. In all of the years that Seungcheol has known him, the younger man has never shut him out that much. Jeonghan by nature is a very shy and private person. It can take up to months sometimes before he feels comfortable enough to open up to them. Though Seungcheol himself was a partial exception to that rule though. Out of all of the people that Jeonghan acted the less shy around in their first encounter were Joshua and himself. And going from that to this was really bothering the young leader. 

“I’m worried about him.” Seungcheol whispered into the darkness. The confession didn’t really take Joshua by surprise at all. It was fairly obvious to him that Seungcheol was worried about Jeonghan, he himself was worried about him too though. Joshua shifted slightly so that he was now facing both Suengcheol and Jeonghan in the bed. “I am too Cheol, I’ve never seen him like this before.” Joshua whispered. “ I don’t want this to end up like last time…. Or worse.” All both of them could think about at that time was how scared they both were for their shared lover. One of the thoughts from that day was that there was so much blood… But they couldn’t be thinking about that now if they wanted to be able to help Jeonghan now. “I don’t know what to do anymore with him Shua, I just want to help but I don’t know what I’m supposed to do to help him.” Seungcheol told him. “I’m beyond terrified that I’ll just make it worse for him.” Joshua reached out a hand and brushed it against Seungcheol’s cheek as a sign of comfort. “I know that you feel helpless Seungcheol and I do too sometimes when it comes to this, but we can help him, I know that we can, but we can’t do anything until he lets us in to do it.” Joshua told him. Seungcheol gave a weak laugh at that. “Have you been talking to Irene-Noona again?” He joked. Joshua smiled softly at that. “Yeah, she caught me when I was leaving the hospital earlier.” Joshua told him. 

For a while there the two of them didn’t say anything. They just laid there and basked in the pure blissful silence that they were sharing with Jeonghan. “Do you think that we’ll be ok?” Seungcheol whispered, thus breaking the silence. “I… I really don’t know Cheol, every time I’ve been asked that question before I’ve always said yes.” Joshua told him. “I tell people yes, because I know you two and I know myself and I know that all three of us are too stubborn not to go and fix our problems, and give up without a fight.” He told him. “But this time, I want to say yes, but at the same time I”m really worried that I’ll be proven wrong. Say it how you want, but I just have a bad feeling.” Seungcheol hummed at that. He too had similar thoughts as his lover. Though he’s sort of always had those thoughts since he became the leader of their group. He’s always felt responsible about everyone in the group and he always thinks of the worst case scenarios when they’re on missions. Seungcheol worries himself to death about all of his members and rather or not he can keep them safe. “Well, I really hope that you’re proven right.” Seungcheol finally told him. “Now, we better get to sleep, you have class and a shift tomorrow and I have research to comb through.” Seungcheol told him. Joshua nodded his head and settled down. “Goodnight Seungcheol-ah, I love you.” Joshua said as he leaned over and kissed him. “Goodnight Joshua, I love you too.” He told him as he reciprocated the kiss. Then both of them moved and kissed Jeonghan on his temple. “I love you Jeonghan-ah.” They said in unison. 

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It was pitch black. He didn’t know where he was, but all that he knows is that it’s completely dark wherever it is he is. He couldn’t really make out his surroundings to deduce where he was. And to make matters worse he couldn’t see in front of him. So Jeonghan put his hands out in front of him trying to feel his way around wherever he is. And the longer that he was there in the dark the more scared he was becoming. He could tell that his anxiety levels were on the high end and that they were increasingly rising. Also, he could hear how spotty and harsh his own breathing sounded in his own ears. He was nervous and anxious and all that he really wanted to do was lay in bed and be cuddled up between Joshua and Seungcheol, and maybe have Chan in his arms too. But at the moment it just looked like he was all by himself here. He was too busy trying to see to notice the little catch on the ground. Next thing he knew he tripped and fell forward. Throwing his arms out in front of him trying to cushion the blow of the impact he was prepared for the worse. 

“Ugh.” Jeonghan grunted as he landed on what he assumed to be the ground. He pushed himself up onto his arms so that he could look around and see where he was. When he did that he was completely floored. He was in his room. To be more specific, he was in his bedroom in his old childhood home. NO. No, he can’t be here, he can’t. He hasn’t been home in years. Even though he still keeps in contact with his little sister he always meets Hana anywhere other than the house. Amongst all of the turmoil that he was going through in his freakout, Jeonghan was stable enough to know one thing. And that one thing was that he needed to get out. He needed to get out of this house NOW. And promptly fast too, before HE, finds him here. He had to move now. 

Getting up off of the ground Jeonghan made his way over to his bedroom door. Turning the knob he slowly and carefully pulled open the door a crack. He peaked out into the hallway to see if anybody was there. Looking back and forth for a few minutes he decided that the close was clear and opened the door fully. Even though it seemed like there was no one there, he still tried to keep his steps as silent as possible to try and avoid detection. At this point he was even trying to breathe as little as possible so there wasn’t a chance that his stepfather would hear him. If the man was even in the house then he wasn’t upstairs since he was able to make it down to the bottom floor of the stairs without any incident. Letting out the breath that he didn’t know that he was holding, Jeonghan took a moment to calm himself down some. He could do this, he could, he was almost to freedom. Now, all he has to do is to walk past the living room to get to the front door and he is home free. Stealing himself, he took a deep breath and started towards the door. He could do this. He could do this…. Probably. 

When he came to the opening in the hallway he stopped right before it and threw himself flat against the wall. He took another deep breath and strained his ears to listen into the other room. Jeonghan could hear the noise from the tv playing in the room, other than that he couldn’t hear anything in the whole bottom floor of the house. At the same time that eased his nerves and sky rocketed them to new heights. After a few minutes of not hearing anything, Jeonghan took the chance and decided to poke his head into the room to see everything. Looking into the room he really couldn’t see anything other than an empty room with the tv on and the chair that his stepfather sat in right in the middle of the room. It was like nothing had changed in the house since he left that night. He stood there hiding behind the wall for a few minutes until he came to the conclusion that he could get out of this house without getting caught and make his way back to Seungcheol and Joshua. He went and walked over to the front door. Oh, if only he knew what was waiting for him on the other side. 

Jeonghan was finally beginning to relax when he made it to the front door. Though all of his hopes were smashed when he was finally able to open the door. All of the air left his body in one big giant swoop when he opened the door. There standing in front of him was his stepfather Kim Jiwon. He looked exactly like he did the last time that Jeonghan had seen him the night that he had left home. Jeonghan was almost absolutely certain that he was going to vomit just at the sight of him alone. It was a safe bet to say that Jeonghan was absolutely and extremely terrified of him. He thought that he could get away without being noticed. Guess he was wrong then, just like last time. 

“Yay! Jeonghan-ah! So nice of you to finally come home you little bastard.” The man huffed as he barged his way into the house. He grabbed Jeonghan by the collar of his shirt and shoved him hard, back inside the house as he slammed the front door shut and locked it. That was the moment that Jeonghan felt his heart sink into his stomach making him feel sick all over again. “So you’ve come back home have you?” The monster laughed in his face. “I bet you missed our ‘bonding moments’ didn’t you, you little slut. Realized that you couldn't find someone who could work you like I could?” he said as he was walking closer and closer towards Jeonghan. He had backed up until his back collided hard with the wall of the hallway. His breaths were coming out in hard and fast gasps. It was starting to get hard to breathe for him, and he didn’t like it. His stepfather had stepped up until he was right in front of him, caging him in like some type of animal. He was so close to Jeonghan that he could feel his breath on his neck and smell the booze wafting out of his mouth. At this point Jeonghan could feel his legs shaking so hard, he didn’t know how they were able to keep him upright and support his weight anymore. He was terrified about what the man before him was going to do. And the worst part was, no matter what he did Jeonghan knew that it would never be enough to stop him. He stiffened when he felt a hand grip him by the waist while the under one slipped underneath his shirt and was starting to make its way down his pants. It was at that point that Jeonghan was zoning out. That’s what he always did when this happened, it was better than getting his teeth knocked out. It was when he got close that Jeonghan lost it. 

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“NO! NO! STOP!” Jeonghan screamed as he jerked himself awake and into an upright position. His heart was pounding, and his chest heaving, gasping breaths, and his stomach was churning. He felt like he was on a runaway roller coaster. The fear and adrenaline, mixed with the anxiety pumping through his veins made it hard for him to comprehend where he was and what was going on. He didn’t know where he was, he didn’t even recognize his own room. In his mind he was still back there with HIM. “Hannie.” Someone said his name. It sounded somewhat familiar but he couldn’t tell who it was.The person was repeating his name over and over again. And the more they spoke the more the voice started to sound like his stepfather. That thought only made him panic even more. He couldn’t let him have him again he couldn’t. He took his arms and wrapped them around himself and dug his nails into his arms, hard. He had to be anywhere else but here. He wanted to go home. He wanted Seungcheol and he wanted Joshua. He had to make sure them, his sister, and the rest of the members were alright. But first he had to get away to safety And he was working on a plan when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. And everything sort of went to Hell after that. 

“Damn it Seungcheol I told you not to touch him like this!” Joshua yelled at him. Seungcheol flinched back at the harshness of the volume, but he wasn’t backing down about this. He was freaking out about it, the moment that he saw Jeonghan dig his nails into his arms, he knew that he had to stop it when he saw blood. “Well sorry! ButI was trying to stop him from hurting himself so that we wouldn’t have to take him to the ER again!” Seungcheol fired back. He was just as loud as Joshua was if not louder. In between the two who were fighting, Jeonghan was curled up in a little ball breathing heavily and trying and failing to keep his stomach in check. Above him, the other two didn’t notice this until Jeonghan had shoved Joshua off of the bed and bolted into the bathroom. It was times like these that they remember that even though Jeonghan is the weakest out of all 13 of them in physical strength that didn’t mean he himself was weak. And that was something that everyone forgot about all the time. Seungcheol jumped off of the bed to help Joshua off of the floor and the two of them headed to the bathroom to check on Jeonghan. Luckily in his haste to make it to the bathroom in time he had forgotten to close and lock the door. So they had easy access to walk in and take care of him. 

When they walked into the room the sight that they were met with wasn’t pretty. Jeonghan was on the floor in front of the toilet, holding the rim in a death grip as he puked up everything that he put into his system in the last 24 hours.It was a very pitiful sight. His hair was a mess, it was sticking up in every direction and falling into his face as he vomited. Joshua was really hoping that he hadn’t gotten too much of it into his hair. They took their time entering the room slowly so that they weren’t at too high of a risk of scarring Jeonghan any further. By this point it had seemed that Jeonghan had stopped throwing up and was now just dry-heaving into the porcelain bowl. He looked absolutely miserable at this point, and both Joshua and Seungcheol’s hearts were breaking at the sight. Both of the other two men kneeled down on the ground next to their third lover. Jeonghan had his head resting on both of his arms which he had on the toilet seat. “Hannie… Hannie, it’s ok, it’s just me and Cheol ok?” Joshua whispered. “It’s just the two of us in here with you ok? Do you know where we are?” He asked him. Jeonghan didn’t say anything at first. He just sat there with his head in his arms. And if Seungcheol didn’t know any better he would have thought that he had fallen asleep. Though he wouldn’t have blamed him if he did since he seemed completely exhausted when they first came in the room 

It took a few minutes before Jeonghan was able to speak to them though. And when he was finally able to, his voice broke their hearts. “Shua? Cheol?” He asked weakly in a hoarse whisper. He was starting to shake at this point, and both of his lovers had to hold themselves back from reaching out to grab him so they don’t make it worse. “Yeah, Angel it’s us.” Seungcheol told him in a soft, soothing voice. “You’re ok? He didn’t hurt you?” Jeonghan asked, and just by the tone of his voice alone that he was beyond scared out of his mind. “Yeah, it’s just me and Shua alright, and we’re perfectly fine ok, no one hurt us.” Seungcheol told him. Jeonghan just shook his head, “No, no, he had me, he said that he took you guys too, and that I’d never see you again.” Jeonghan mumbled. At this point he had moved away from the toilet and had curled up into a ball against the bathtub. “Who Hannie?” Joshua asked him softly. “M-My s-stepf-father-r, I-I,... It was d-dark and I was-s all alone and then I-I tripped and f-fell.” Jeonghan told them. “I l-landed and the next thing that I knew I was in my old room. I-I didn’t know where anyone was, but I knew that I h-had to find you guys. I ran, trying to get out I had made it to the front door when he caught me..” Jeonghan was full on sobbing now. It just pissed Joshua and Suengcheol off even more. It was no secret among the three of them that the oldest and youngest despised Jeonghan’s stepfather. They didn’t really like his birth father either but he had abandoned him long ago and they couldn’t find him so. They hated the fact that the man abused someone so nice and kind like Jeonghan. They hated the fact that it was because of him that Jeonghan struggled so much with his day to day life sometimes. And it was because of him that Jeonghan even though he acts like the fact that he’s a carrier didn’ even phase him, he still thought that is was one of his weak points. And that was why he was so scared about having a family with the two of them. Both Joshua and Seungcheol had made a pack behind Jeonghan’s back a long time ago that if they were to ever run into the man, then they would make sure that he would never be able to hurt Jeonghan ever again. 

“Hannie.. Hannie, listen to us ok?” Joshua asked him. He didn’t get a very reassuring response but went with it anyway. “You’re ok you hear me? You’re in the bathroom in our bedroom in the apartment that the three of us share with the rest of the members ok?” Joshua told him. He saw a barely there nod from Jeonghan. “You’re far away from your old house ok, you step dad can’t get anywhere near you.” Joshua told him in a calming and soothing voice. “And the most important part about all of this is that we won’t ever let him lay a hand on you ever again as long as the two of us are alive.” Seungcheol said when he butted into the conversation. Jeonghan took in a very shaky breath, but he nodded and lifted his head from his knees. “Cheol? Shua?” Jeonghan whispered. “Is that really you?” He asked in a scared timid voice. “Yes, yes it’s us Hannie, it’s us, we’re real I promise you that.” Joshua told him as he scooted closer to him. Jeonghan wasted no time in launching himself at his boyfriend and tackling him in a big hug. And when the tears started again, Seungcheol joined the group hug on the bathroom floor. And there was no place else that he would rather be. 

  
  


After about 15 minutes they were finally able to pry Jeonghan off of the floor and guide him back to bed. At first he didn’t say anything, he just sat in the middle of the bed holding a pillow to his chest trying to calm down. Joshua and Seungcheol were sitting on either side of him, though they left enough space between them so that he wouldn’t feel too overwhelmed. None of them said anything for a while until Jeonghan broke the tense silence. “I’ll go.” He said softly. If Joshua and Seungcheol weren’t sitting so close to him then they probably wouldn’t be able to have heard him. “What?” Seungcheol asked him. It took a few minutes for Jeonghan to speak again, both of the other two assuming that he didn't want to repeat what he just said out loud. They were really hoping that he wasn’t talking about leaving them and the team because he felt like a burden to them all. “I said that I’ll go,.. I’ll go and see Irene-Noona again.” He said this time, just a little bit louder than last time. Both Seungcheol and Joshua were stunned at the news. They knew that Jeonghan would give in and go see her eventually, regardless of whether or not they had to use some force, but they never thought that he’d cave in this easily. That meant that this was probably worse than either of them thought. “Well, are you going to say anything?” Jeonghan asked after a while. The silence in the room was beginning to drive him mad. “Are, are you sure that you want to do this on your own and it’s not the fact that we’ve been pushing this on you the last couple of weeks?” Joshua asked. Jeonghan nodded his head. “Yeah, this is of my own volition and free will, I started thinking tonight about how bad things have gotten, and I can’t take it anymore.” Jeonghan told him. “AndIi’ve come to the realization that if I want things to go back to the way things were before then I need to get help.” “That’s very big of you Hannie, I’m proud.” Seungcheol said as he sling an arm around the younger’s shoulders. That got a small smile out of the younger. “And I’m sorry that I’ve been acting like a dick to the two of you lately, I’ve just been really messed up and I took my emotions out on you and I shouldn’t have.” Jeonghan apologized to him. Joshua leaned his head on his shoulder as a sign of comfort. “You were forgiven the minute after you opened your mouth the first time. We know that you’ve been going through stuff lately and that it’s hard for you.” Joshua told him. “But we both love you very much and we just want what’s best for you.” “Yeah, we just want to see our Angel smile and laugh again.” Seungcheol butted in. He kissed Jeonghan on the temple and smiled when he saw him blush. “And don’t worry, I’ll talk to Noona tomorrow to see when she can work you in.” Joshua told him. “Now, let’s go to bed.” 

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Soonyoung groaned as he made his way to the office that morning. He had woken up when his phone had gone off. He had forgotten to turn the ringer off and ‘Sherlock’ by Shinee started blasting through the room. Though what got him out of bed was when Minghao had started chucking objects at him. He wanted to get out of the room before he could get to the nunchucks. Grabbing his phone he jumped out of the bed and bolted from the room. Once he was in the hallway, he was able to take a look at his phone to see who had texted him. It was a text from Seungcheol telling him to meet him in the office when he woke up. For some reason Soonyoung had a feeling that this was something important so he decided to go on ahead and make his way to the office. He really hoped that it was just some simple job and not anything life threatening. Though with the luck that he and all of the rest of them have, it probably wasn’t the case at all. 

When he got to the office door, he didn’t even bother to knock before opening the door and walking straight in. “Hey.” he greeted as he came in and sat down beside Wonwoo on the couch. The hacker was too lost in whatever it was that he was doing on his computer to notice anything going on around him. Jihoon and Seungcheol were on the other side of the room talking about something when he came in. Seungcheol waved at him since they were in the middle of a conversation, while Jihoon just rolled his eyes at him.So he just sat on the couch next to Wonwoo to wait on whatever meeting they were having to start. And since their leader and lead hacker seemed to be in the middle of an intense discussion, he figured that they were going to be here for a while. So, Soonyoung just figured that he would sit there and watch Wonwoo work. He had nothing else better to do at the moment. Looking over his shoulder he watched Wonwoo’s fingers fly on the keyboard typing in all of these numbers and letters. He had absolutely no clue what he was doing. Soonyoung wasn’t one much for technology. Everything that he touched in that department would break or stop working all together. So he just decided to let Jihoon and Wonwoo deal with all of that stuff. Though he could always get lost in the way that Wonwoo worked for some reason. He just found it interesting to watch, even if he had absolutely no idea what was going on. 

He was so lost in what the other was doing that he almost missed it when Seungcheol and Jihoon turned to them to discuss what they were all called here for. “So, thank you for coming on such short notice Soon.” Seungcheol told him. Soonyoung nodded his head in understanding. The leader took that as his cue to continue and started to explain what was going on. He then went into what Jihoon had found on the hard drive the previous night before. And how he came across this weird logo that he had never seen before. Then he had explained that they were able to figure out what it was and who the logo belonged to. That was the moment that Wonwoo had butted in and told him that it was his family crest. Soonyoung was shocked at that confession. Wonwoo then went on to explain more about his family and the business that they run. Soonyoung was astounded, he didn’t know what to make of the situation. He felt bad for Wonwoo though, now in his mind, more things were beginning to make some sort of sense. It explains why he’s always so eager to help the clients that they interview, and why he never gets along with his family and why he never talks about them or to them. 

“Hyung, what are we going to do now?” Soonyoung asked once the meeting was over. “I really don’t know Soon, what little information that we have on them isn’t enough for us to plan a job.” Seungcheol said. “Jihoon and Wonwoo are working more on extracting information to see what we can do and we’ll go from there.” Soonyoung nodded his head. Not long after that Seungcheol deemed the meeting over and went to go and check on Jeonghan. He had mentioned something about him having a really bad nightmare the night before and he wanted to make sure that he was ok. And that left the other three alone in the room unsupervised.Jihoon went back to his computer and started toying around with it. Wonwoo on the other hand was where he was when Soonyoung came in. He really hadn’t said a whole lot other than the spill about his family, and just acted like he was tuning everyone out. Soonyoung was worried about him. He really was, his own parents weren’t the best example of model parenting in the world, but they weren’t hardened criminals involved with the mob. He knew that this was a hard pill for Wonwoo and everyone else involved to swallow. He just really wanted Wonwoo to be ok. Though for him to figure out how to help him was going to take some special planning on his own. Wonwoo really wasn’t the most open person in the world when it came to his feelings. And any time that they are brought up more likely than not he runs rather than confronting them. Which only made Soonyoung worry more about him. He had to get to the bottom of this. 

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When Vernon had walked into the living room that day he wasn’t planning on falling asleep on the couch. But he also didn’t mind since he was one of the only people in the apartment that found that couch comfortable enough to sleep on. Well, besides Jeonghan, and Woozi, but those are stories for another time. Another thing that he wasn’t expecting was to get woken up by someone slapping him, Jerking awake Vernon jumped and rolled off of the couch and onto the floor. Groaning, he rolled and tried to get up while rubbing his head from where he hit the floor. Opening his eyes he glanced up at the person who just scared him awake and came face to face with Seungkwan. Seungkwan was standing overtop of him glaring at him. Hansol had noticed that he was still in his scrubs so he must have just gotten home from the hospital. And that was making him confused. When Vernon got home from running errands for Mingyu it was like 5, so that would make it at least close to 11 now. Man, he slept for that long. 

  
  


“Well?.” Seungkwan said. He had his arms crossed and he was tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for Hansol to say something. “Well what? You just scared the shit out of me.” Hansol told him. And from the floor he didn’t miss it when Seungkwan rolled his eyes at him. “Well, why are you sleeping on the couch, you know that it’s not good for your back, or your neck idiot.” He nagged at him. Hansol just stared at him for a few moments. “So, you decided to slap me awake to make me move to my bed?” He asked him. “Yeah, I couldn’t get you to wake up any other way dofus.” Seungkwan snarked at him. He then turned and walked away to the kitchen. Hansol was left on the floor really confused about what just happened. When Vernon heard Seungkwan moving around in the kitchen he decided to get up and followed him in there. He watched from the threshold of the doorway as Seungkwan was piddling around the kitchen. He seemed to be making a couple of sandwiches or something. Vernon didn’t get it. 

“Well are you just going to stand there all night and stare at me or are you going to come in here and help me?” Seungkwan asked him. And yet again the sound of his voice made Hansol jump about three feet in the air. But he shrugged to himself anyway and walked into the kitchen to help his friend. “What are you doing in here anyway?” Hansol asked him. “I thought that you would just crash after you got home from your shift.” “I was the last one to get in since the floor I was assigned to for the night was swamped. I didn’t eat dinner and I’m hungry.” Seungkwan told him. “I was going to make myself some food when I saw you asleep on the couch.” Seungkwan then turned back to where he was making sandwiches. Two of them were ham and cheese, while the other two were pb&j’s/ He gave the ham and cheese ones to Hansol and kept the other two for himself. “Do we have any tomatoes?” Hansol asked with a smirk on his face. Seungkwan sighed, and rolled his before he slugged Hansol in the arm hard. “Dumbass, you ask that to the person who’s allergic to them.” He told him. Hansol just laughed and rubbed his arm. “Man, you’re stronger than you look Boo.” He told him with a laugh. “Oh, shut up you big baby. I didn’t hit you that hard.” Seungkwan told him as he moved to sit at the kitchen table. Vernon just smiled at him and followed his same age friend to the table.The two of them sat down and began to eat their food. It was silent for a few moments, the only sound was of them chewing. 

“Do you want something to drink?” Hansol asked him around a mouthful of food. “Don’t talk with your mouth full of food, idiot.” Seungkwan snipped at him. “But, yes thank you I would.” Hansol nodded his head and went to the fridge to get them both bottles of water to go with their little meal. “Thanks.” Seungkwan said as Hansol handed him the water. “Your welcome.” He told him. The two of them went back to their comfortable silence that they were in earlier. “So how was your day?” Seungkwan asked him. Hansol took a swig of his water bottle before answering him. “Nothing much I guess, the biggest thing that I did today was go and run errands for Mingyu-Hyung.” Hansol told him. Seungkwan just nodded his head. “How was your day?” Vernon asked him. Seungkwan sighed deeply. “How long do you have?” He asked him. “I got time, you’re off tomorrow right? I don’t want to keep you up all night if you have class to go to or anything.” Hansol said. “No, I don't have anything to do tomorrow, the only thing that I want to do is sleep all day.” Seungkwan told him. Vernon nodded his head. “Well, that’s good, you deserve a break Kwanie.” Vernon told him. 

“I had a day today.” Seungkwan finally told him. “Well, start from the beginning, I have all night.” Vernon told him. “First, my class was running behind because the professor got in a car wreck, don’t worry he’s fine though.” Seungkwan told him. “Then, after that the day just started going downhill from there.” He took a bite out of his sandwich before continuing on with his story. “After that I went to the hospital where I got stuck with the pissy surpervisior that day, and he put me in the ER.” Seungkwan told him. “And today seemed to be the day that everyone thought it was a good day for them to act stupid.” Vernon laughed at that, he loved the way that Seungkwan told a story, he had a dramatic flare for it. “What happened next?” Hansol asked him. “Some guy came in today with a concussion and a bunch of bruises on his backside.” Kwannie told him. “When I asked what happened he made up this bullcrap story of falling down the stairs.” “He got all of that from falling down the stairs?” Hansol asked him perplexed. “No, he didn’t. His injuries didn’t seem to match up with that story. Then his girlfriend came in and told us the real story.” “So, what really happened then?” “His injuries were from rough sex gone wrong.” Seungkwan told him. “She told me that they were trying to recreate something out of a sex book she found and well things didn’t exactly go according to plan.” And that was when Hansol started laughing. “You’re serious?” He asked him. And when Seungkwan nodded his head, he just started laughing even harder. “Oh man! This is great.” Hansol told him, and continued to laugh. Seungkwan smiled at him, and just watched his friend laugh so hard that water came out of his nose when he tried to take a drink. He loved hearing Hansol’s laugh and he loved watching him smile. It was then that Seungkwan made a promise to himself that he would do anything that it would take to get that boy to smile and keep it there. 

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“It’s good to see you again Jeonghan-ah, though I wish it were under better circumstances.” Irene greeted as Jeonghan walked into the room. Jeonghan went and sat down in a chair across from her, and brushed the hair out of his eyes. “I-It’s good to see you again Noona, it’s been awhile.” Jeonghan whispered. His head was down and he was looking at his feet. He had his hands in his lap and was playing with them in his lap. Irene could tell that he was nervous, he was nervous the first time the last go around that they had over a year ago. “I was very pleased when Jisoo-ah had tracked me down to my office yesterday and told me that you willingly said that you would come and see me without any prompting from him or Seungcheol-ah.” Irene told him. “I’m proud of you for that Jeonghan-ah, that shows a lot of strength to admit that you have a problem.” Jeonghan just nodded his head, but didn’t say anything. Remembering the last that the two of them had met, Jeonghan wasn’t really keen on talking openly about his feelings without a little bit of prodding. 

“Ok, well I guess I’ll start us off for today then.” Irene told him. She took out her notepad, and pen, and got comfortable in her chair before she started talking. “So, when Joshua-ah came and talked to me earlier, he told me that you started having your night terrors again.” Irene informed him. “Is this true?” She asked him. Jeonghan took a few minutes before he would answer her. “I...Yes, um I’ve been having night terrors, nightmares, whatever you want to call them.” Jeonghan told her in a small voice. “Um, they started a few months ago, right before I got sick and had to be admitted.” Irene nodded her head and made some notes on her notepad before going on. “Ok, well since they’ve been going on for awhile, do you remember any of them? Have you talked about them with anyone or wrote down what you remember or what you felt?” She asked him. Jeonghan shook his head. “No, not really, um the only one that I talked about to Shua and Cheol was the one that I had a couple of nights ago before I got here.” He told her. “I tried to write down what happened for a different one, but the more I thought about it the more scared and worked up I got so I just quit.” Irene hummed as she jotted down more notes in her pad. It took awhile before she said something again and the silence had Jeonghan on edge. “Well, do you want to tell me what they were usually about, or were they the same as last time?” Irene asked him. “Same as last time Noona.” He whispered. 

Irene sighed to herself, and laid her stuff on her desk. She got out of her chair and crossed the room to where Jeonghan was seated. She kneeled down in front of him and clasped his hands in her. “It’s going to be ok, you hear me Jeonghan-ah, it’s going to be ok I promise you this.” Irene told him. “Now, I’m not going to lie to you, I’ve talked to many survivors over the years, and I know that this is a pure fact, the closure that people talk about getting is a load of bullshit.” And she almost started to chuckle at the way Jeonghan’s eyes just grew to 3 times their regular size when she let that word slip. Irene had a sort of good girl reputation, and more likely than not she frowned upon vulgar language and anything related to it. So hearing her say something like that was completely shocking. “Every person that I have talked to, told me that they never truly ever get over what happened to them fully, it just gets easier for them to live with it as time passes on.” She told him. “And from what they’ve told me, what will help is having a strong support system to help back them up, and that’s one thing that I know that you have.” She told him with a little smile. “Yeah, they’re pretty great aren’t they?” Jeonghan said with a small laugh. “Thank you Noona.” He told her. Irene just smiled and brought her hands up to his face, and just smiled at him. “It’s nothing Jeonghan-ah, I do because I want to.” 

The two of them sat in a comfortable silence with each other for about 10 minutes before Irene moved to go back to her seat. “Ok, I know that you don’t want to, but will you at least share with me how you're feeling today. You don’t have to go into full detail, but I want to get an idea so we can figure out where to go on from here together.” She explained to him. Jeonghan nodded and took a deep breath before he opened his mouth to speak. “I...I just don’t know what to do with myself anymore, if that makes any sense. It just feels like I get up and put on a mask everyday to interact with people, even the ones that I’m close to.” Jeonghan told her. “I feel like being myself, really being myself is fake, so I try not to be, so I can feel normal again, but it doesn’t work. It’s.. huh, my mind is such a mess right now that I don’t even know anything anymore.” Jeonghan said. “I can’t concentrate anymore really, and it’s just like everything around me is just spinning and I’m stuck here watching everything go by and I’m getting dizzy. Sometimes when it does that it gets so bad that I get nauseous and throw up.” Irene hummed a little bit as he was talking and was making notes about what he was telling her. “I feel like I’m just being who everyone else sees me as, I...don’t know who I am anymore… And that fact scares the living Hell out of me.” Jeonghan confessed. He slumped down in his chair in relief after his confession. It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders after he opened up about his feelings and struggles. 

“I’m glad that you opened up a little bit to me Jeonghan-ah.” Irene told him when she looked up from her notes. “Now, that we’ve gotten through that part, I want to tell you that it will really help you get better.” Irene told him. “Do you feel a little better now since you’ve opened up?” She questioned him. “Yeah, I .. I feel lighter, like it’s easier to breathe and stuff.” Jeonghan admitted to her. Irene nodded her head in approval. “Well, that’s good, I’m glad, you deserve to be happy Jeonghan-ah.” She told him with a smile. “Now,” She told him, looking at the clock on her wall. “I do believe that our time is up for today, but don’t worry I already told Joshua-ah that I’ve scheduled you for a couple of more appointments and then we’ll go on from there ok?” She asked him. Jeonghan nodded his head. “Joy, will give you the appointments when you come out, and if memory serves me correctly I think he told me that Seungcheol is waiting outside to pick you up.” Jeonghan nodded his head again. “Well then, we better not keep him waiting for us then.” Irene said as she moved to go and open the door. On her way over though she was stopped in her tracks when Jeonghan had reached out and grabbed her arm. When she turned around to see what he needed she was surprised when Jeonghan had pulled her into a hug. He buried his face in her neck and hugged her tightly. “Thank you Noona.” He whispered. And she could tell that he was about ready to start crying. She wrapped her arms around him and started rubbing his back as a sign of comfort. When Jeonghan was finally able to pull away, his eyes were a little bit red and puffy, but otherwise he looked ok and told him that when he asked her. 

Irene was right, when they walked out of the door of the office there was Seungcheol sitting in the waiting room. He was reading something on his phone and was bouncing his leg up and down in a pattern. Anyone could tell that he was just a little bit anxious being there. Though Jeonghan knew that his anxiety came from the worry that he had for his well being. And watching him waiting for him was one of the cutest things that Jeonghan has ever seen. Jeonghan smiled to himself as Irene walked him over to Seungcheol. He hadn’t seen them yet, since he was too busy trying to keep himself calm so Jeonghan took this as the perfect opportunity to scare him. He walked over to him as quietly as he could and sat down next to him. He gave it about 30 seconds before he did anything. He leaned over to his ear and yelled “BOO!” Seungcheol jumped violently in his seat. He threw his hands up in the air and screamed, while his phone slipped through his fingers and fell to the ground with a big thud. It was a good thing that he bought a lifeproof case. Meanwhile Jeonghan leaned back in his own seat and just started laughing his head off. 

When Seungcheol had calmed down enough, he looked over and saw that it was Jeonghan who had scared him half to death. He glared at his boyfriend and slapped him hard on the shoulder. “Yay! You scared me half to death you jerk!” He told him. Jeonghan couldn't care less as he just continued to laugh. When he realized that Jeonghan was laughing too hard at him to do anything, he turned to Irene who was just standing there watching them with a smile on her face. “So, how did things go Noona?” Seungcheol asked her. Irene just smiled at him. “Oh, you know, same old some old, this one here nothing but trouble.” She said while gesturing to Jeonghan, who was still laughing away in the chair. Seungcheol chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Oh, but of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less from this one.” He told her as he pulled Jeonghan to his side. Jeonghan by this time had finally stopped laughing and just cuddled up to Seungcheol like he used to. “Well, at least you’re laughing at me again, that’s a good sign.” Seungcheol told him. Jeonghan just smiled and kissed his lover on the cheek. “I love you Cheol.” He told him as he laid his head on his shoulder. Irene smiled to herself at the sweet sight. “Well, I guess that I’ll leave the two of you to do what you’re going to do, here’s the papers with all of Jeonghan-ah’s next appointments.” Irene told them. “We made good progress today, I’ll see you next time Jeonghan-ah.” She told them as she walked off back to her office. “Goodbye Noona.” They both said in unison. The two of them looked at each other for a few minutes before they broke out into a fit of giggles. “So, you want to go see if Shua-ah is busy or if he can have lunch with us or not?” Jeonghan asked Seungcheol. And he was giving him those puppy dogs eyes so he knew that he couldn’t tell him no for anything. “Yeah, we can, but if he’s busy then we don’t bother him anymore and we go home got it?” Seungcheol told him. Jeonghan just smiled at him. And Seungcheol knew that he was screwed and stupid ofr even asking. “Come on slowpoke, we have a boyfriend to track down!” Jeonghan said as he pulled him to his feet and dragged him out of the room. Seungcheol for lack of a better term was whipped. 

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The office was dark as the lackey walked into it. At first glance no one would know that the room was occupied if it wasn’t for the fact that you could barely make out someone’s silhouette in the room. It was a tall man, very built and buff. He’s nothing if not intimidating. And that was what the lacky was feeling. He slowly approached the man’s desk as he was carrying the briefcase of files that he wanted. He was terrified of the man before him, and he was even more scared about what he was going to do with all of the information that he was giving him. 

“Did you bring what I requested of you?” The man from behind the desk asked as he looked up from his work. The lackey nodded his head in a jerking motion. “Yes-ss, Sir.” The man said in a small voice. “Excellent.” The big boss answered him. He seemed pretty pleased with him. The poor lackey was starting to get his hopes that maybe nothing will happen to him after this. Maybe he could actually walk away from this place and go home and not have to worry about the possibility of him being killed before he left the floor. “Well, aren’t you going to hand it over?” His boss asked him. The man tripped over his own feet in his hurry to place the case on the desk. The boss just smiled at him before pulling his desk drawer open and looking through it. 

The lackey paused and held his breath. This was it, he thought. This was going to be the end of the line for him. He almost jumped out of his skin when the man pulled out a wad of cash and handed it to him. “For a job well done.” He told him. The other man nodded and took the money with a small smile on his face. He didn’t even bother to count the money before bowing before the man and taking his exit. “Thank you Sir.” He told him as he bowed before him to show his respect. The boss just smiled at him creepily. “Take good care of yourself now Mr. Cho.” He told him, before he sent him on his way. The man, Mr. Cho nodded as he made his way to the door. “Oh, Mr. Cho, one more thing.” The boss said. Mr, Cho turned around to face the boss. “I am terribly sorry young man, but I can’t leave any loose ends. “ The boss said as he pulled out a gung and shot him point blank in the head. The man formerly known as Mr. Cho dropped dead to the ground where he stood and that was the end of it all. The boss man tutted to himself as he walked back to his desk to put the gun away and call the janitorial staff to come and clean up the mess that he had made. After doing that he pulled the briefcase over to him and began to rifle through it. This was perfect, everything that he would ever need to take down SEVENTEEN and it was finally in his grasp. Now, his master plan could commence. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get real and dark. That's all I'm going to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I hope that everyone is doing well, and staying safe and healthy out there. Now, like I said last time and a while ago, this is going to be the last chapter for a while. I'm planning on turning my attention back to my Voltron fic, and I also have some one-shots that I want to finish first before starting on that so it had my full attention. I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you guys next time. P.S. The conversation between Wonwoo and Jeonghan can be mildly triggering, so I warn you a head of time so if you need to skip it you can. Have a nice Friday!   
> -N.

Chapter 10 

Jeonghan was pissed. Scratch that he was beyond pissed off, he was livid. He couldn’t believe it! When they had tracked down Joshua and convinced him to take his lunch break so that they could all eat lunch together he wasn’t expecting this. Halfway through lunch Seungcheol had told both of them that he had something important to tell them that included the kids. He then spent the next 15 minutes explaining to them about all of the information that Woozi had found on the hard drive. That part though didn’t upset him, if anything the fact that more people will end up in jail where they couldn’t hurt anyone else made his day. But the part of this conversation that really had his blood boiling was the fact that they found out about Wonwoo’s parents and where they come into things. He knew that Wonwwoo’s parents were well off when he came to join them, but he also knew that they had a really bad relationship and that was why he left them. But to find out that they were involved in stuff like this pissed him off. It had nothing to do with Wonwoo not telling him anything about them, it was the fact that his parents would knowingly put their own son in danger like that. Jeonghan wasn’t stupid, and with what little interaction that they have had with organized crime in this city he knows that the life is dangerous. Wonwoo had a higher chance of being killed staying with his family than him being with them. People who work for people like that have almost no moral compass. The people that Wonwoo’s parents associate with would have no trouble about killing their son if they didn’t do what they wanted them to. And it really pissed Jeonghan off. 

“Stop it.” Joshua told him as he stabbed his fork into his salad again. The three of them were still in the hospital’s cafeteria eating lunch and discussing this new issue in the group that they have to deal with now. And Seungcheol had just informed them of what they know now, and both of his lovers could tell that Jeonghan was pissed. “What are you talking about?” Jeonghan said playing innocent. “I’m not doing anything.” Joshua rolled his eyes at him while Seungcheol just snorted at him. “Really?” Joshua told him. “I’ve known you for long enough that I can tell that you’re already planning the accidental death of both of Wonwoo-ah’s parents.” He told him. Jeonghan just smiled at him sweetly. “Why, I’m offended that you think so little of my Joshua, I would never do anything like that.” he faked mock hurt. Joshua just rolled his eyes as he ate his food. “Don’t be over dramatic Hannie,” Seungcheol told him. “I know that you’re mad at them, but that won’t help Wonwoo-ah at all.” He told him. Jeonghan sighed and put his head in his hands. “I know that, but that doesn’t help me at all.” He groaned. “Wonwoo-ah is a sweet kid, who never did anything wrong, his parents never deserved him.” “No comment on whether you’re right or not, but we have to keep an open mind, especially when we go and take them down.” Seungcheol told them. And he was met with two very shocked reactions. “What do you mean going after them?” The two of them told him in unison. “I mean Wonwoo-ah wants him to go after them.” Seungcheol told them. “I told him that it probably wasn’t a good idea, but he wasn’t hearing it when me, Jihoon, and Soonyoung tried to talk him out of it.” Jeonghan rolled his eyes. “Of course,” He said. “Of course he wants to go and take them down.” Joshua reached out and started rubbing his lover’s arm up and down in a soothing pattern. 

After the three of them finished lunch Joshua had to return back to his shift, and the other two went home. As they were walking out of the hospital, Jeonghan was still raving mad. “I just.. I just..” He tried to get out but he was so mad that he couldn’t talk. Seungcheol sighed and put an arm around his shoulders and pulled the younger closer to him. “Relax Angel, everything’s going to be ok, just chill out a little bit for me.” Seungcheol whispered into his ears. Jeonghan sighed, but nodded his head in an agreeing gesture as he brushed a lock of hair behind his ear. He rested his head on Seungcheol’s shoulder as they walked to where the car was parked in the parking lot. “I know that I need to calm down and think about this rationally and everything, but I just can’t.” Jeonghan said. “I know that the running joke with all of us is that I’m the mom and I know that I call all of the kids my kids even though they aren’t but I can’t help but feel like they are.” Seungcheol kissed his temple in reassurance. “I mean most of these kids didn’t really have a sense of stability in their lives before they joined us, and I want to give them that sense and comfort of it back.” Jeonghan told him. “ I mean I know how much that sucks and how it can mess you up really bad. I just want all of them to feel safe and happy, they deserve that Seungcheol, and I just have this feeling that Wonwoo will never have that if his parents are still out there doing God only knows what, and he’s ruining his life to stop them.” Seungcheol knew he was being serious when Jeonghan had used his full name. “I know that you’re worried and you just want what’s best for them Hannie, but regardless of how much you want to, you can’t solve all of their problems for them.” Seungcheol told him. “They have to do the work themselves sometimes.” “I hate it when you’re right.” Jeonghan told him. Seungcheol just laughed at him. “Let’s go home babe.” 

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THWACK! THWACK!THWACK! Minghao was so focused on trying that he had tuned everything around him out. He had been training with his nunchucks for over two hours in the team’s secret gym. He wanted to blow off some steam after he and Mingyu had gotten in an argument earlier that morning. He wasn’t even sure what they had been fighting about to be honest. Though looking back on it now, it was probably something stupid, that wasn’t meant to blow up as big as it did. Anyway, he left to try and calm himself down so he didn’t kill Mingyu. And he’s been here ever since. He was trying to lose himself in his training to try and clear his heads of all his thoughts and emotions so he didn’t have to deal with them for a while. News flash, it didn’t work. All that he’s been really able to think about this whole time was either Mingyu or something related to Mingyu. It was driving him insane and he didn’ know why. And the not knowing was driving the young Chinese man insane. Though this really shouldn’t surprise him or anyone else anymore. Mingyu and him have always had a ‘ _ Tom and Jerry’ _ \- like relationship. Bickering was one of their most favorite pastimes to boot. It was also the reason that they were banned from sharing a room in all of their apartments so that people could have some peace and quiet every once in a while. 

Even though this has been their relationship for the past couple of years that he has been with the group, Minghao still couldn’t quite wrap his head around what it was exactly about Mingyu that gets under his skin so easily. Maybe it was the fact that he was so clumsy. Mingyu had the habit of breaking everything that he touched, from phones, to dishwashers, that one time he broke the front door and they all thought that Seungcheol was going to kill him had it not been for Joshua and Jeonghan holding him back. It also helped that Jeonghan threatened to withold sex for 6 months if he so much as laid a hand on Mingyu. Then when they had Seungcheol taken care of, Jeonghan laid into Mingyu and made him not only fix the door but he had to do everything that Jeonghan told him to do for a month. For a whole month Mingyu was miserable, and Minghao got to laugh his ass off at all of the ridiculous stuff that Jeognhan made him do. And his personal favorite was when he accidentally broke Jihoon’s prized laptop, when he dropped a glass of milk on it. He had gone into the office the hacker was in to bring him food and to try and get him to eat since he had been working for 12 hours straight. In Mingyu’s defense he was just trying to be a good dongsaeng, by trying to take care of his Hyung and getting him to eat. But sadly, Mingyu tripped over the carpet as he walked in the food and everything that he had in his arms went flying. Needless to say that Jihoon was beyond pissed off. And that night ended with Jihoon breaking his guitar, and then having to be pinned down on the ground while they had Hansol, Jun, and Chan sitting on top of him. And Joshua, Seokmin, and Seungkwan had to do many patch up jobs among the members before taking them to the ER. The people who left were, Mingyu(concussion, and a broken nose), Wonwoo(black eye), Soonyoung(Jihoon knocked some of his teeth out and hit him in the ribs  **HARD** ), and Jun just went for emotional support, while Seungcheol only had a bruise on his cheek. And that left Jeonghan alone as the adult in the apartment, he had Minghao take Hansol and Chan and go into another room, while he and Jihoon “talked.” He felt awfully sorry for Jihoon after that. 

The main point of this is that there’s just something about Mingyu that gets his blood boiling for some reason and it just wasn’t always anger related. Mingyu frustrated him more than anything else half the time, but he also loved being around him all the time. Out of everyone in the group, even though he loved all of them with his whole heart and thought of them as his new family(which he will never ever tell them, that secret goes with him to his grave.), but out of all of them he would say that the 2 that he is the closest to are Jun and Mingyu. Jun and him have history with each other, and him and Mingyu just clicked with each other in a way that’s hard for him to explain to other people. Mingyu has always been there for him since they met, even if he didn’t want him there. And there were a few instances where Minghao had tried to do everything in his power to push Mingyu away from him, but he never left. And thinking about all of this now, it makes his chest hurt. Sometimes when he thinks about his and Mingyu’s relationship his heart beat will quicken, and it’ll make his chest hurt. Sometimes it makes it hard to be around Mingyu for long periods of time, without feeling like he can’t breathe. And he can’t really figure out why that is and he really doesn’t want to to be honest. Mingyu’s his best friend, he can’t go and do something stupid to mess all of this up. He just can’t, he can’t ruin the only family that he has now. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Soonyoung sighed from his place on the couch. He had walked into the living room and sat down on the couch over an hour ago to try and get some work done. He had gotten Wonwoo to print off the blueprints for some of the biggest and more important buildings that are under his family’s control, so he can figure out ways to get in and out and where to put everyone on the chance that this becomes one of their missions. The way that he normally does this is he comes up with a plan, then he shows it to Chan and Minghao so they can tweak it before it gets presented with the rest of the information whenever Seungcheol does a mission debrief. It normally doesn’t take him that long, since once he gets working on it he doesn’t stop until it's done. But for some reason, this time it’s harder for him to concentrate. He’s only able to work for about 10-15 minutes at a time before he loses his train of thought and his focus starts to shift off unto other topics in his head. Mainly, his thoughts shift over to Wonwoo. He’s worried about his friend, he really is, and that’s all there is to it. In all of the years that he has known the other man, he’s never seen him this… what’s the right word for it… sad. No, that’s not the right word, despondent maybe? Anyway, Wonwoo’s not acting like himself and he’s taken a notice of it. 

Ever since he was a kid, he’s always been big on empathy, and sympathy towards the ones that he cares about. His father told him that it was a sign of weakness and that he should stop before anyone figured out what a weakling he was. And his mother would go behind his back and tell him gently that there was nothing with it. She would tell him that it was a sign that he would grow up to become a great man. He’s not exactly sure that this is what she had in mind for him but, eh, beggars can’t be choosers then can they? But, back to the topic at hand, he’s stuck. He’s stuck and he’s frustrated, and tired, and stressed because Seungcheol needs this before he can go and make the big intricate plans that he always makes and then explain it to the others. And the only thing that he really wants to do at the moment is to hug and cuddle the shit out of Wonwoo until he feels better, even though he won’t admit to anyone that there was something wrong to begin with. But he won’t do anything, or even let anyone near him! (Even though they haven’t told the rest of the kids about what’s going(He knows that Seungcheol told Jeonghan and Joshua) they can tell that there was something wrong with Wonwoo.) Every time that Soonyoung has gone to him to see if the other male was ok, he’d get his head bit off or be completely ignored and it was driving him absolutely batty. 

In a fit of rage and frustration Soonyoung grabbed one of the thro pillows off of the couch and laid down and screamed into it. Even though he uses a cushion to muffle his screams, it was still pretty loud. And he wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if someone came in here to check on him in the next 5 minutes. “What are you doing out here you idiot?” He was right, but he was also surprised to hear Jihoon’s voice as the other walked into the living room. Soonyoung turned his head from where it was buried into the pillow to see his best friend. Jihoon was standing over top of him in front of the couch. He was wearing his glasses, and an oversized black sweatshirt and was carrying an empty coffee mug. “I thought you were busy with Wonwoo trying to find a way to infiltrate Jeon Enterprises.” Soonyoung said instead of answering him. “We were, I ran out of coffee, and couldn’t stand to be in the same room with Wonwoo as he sulked in there.” Jihoon told him. “So I figured that it would be a good idea to get out, get some fresh air, more coffee, and rest my eyes a bit.” Soonyoung nodded his head and moved to sit up on the couch, and motioned for Jihoon to come and sit down beside him. Jihoon sighed but went and sat down beside him anyway. He placed his empty cup on a coaster on the inn table beside the couch, because if he did then Mingyu and Jeonghan would have his head. Even though those two are complete and utter opposites and have almost nothing in common, they are scarily alike. Mingyu, the neat freak, doesn’t like to have a mess made in this house, especially if he’s the one who had to clean it up. And Jeonghan the “mom” of their group always says that he didn’t raise unruly and dirty children. And he’s too scared of Jeonghan to go against the coaster policy because he knows that he’ll take Mingyu’s side on the matter. Even though he doesn’t look like Jeonghan, he is easily the scariest and most dangerous and intimidating member of the group. And thus, he’s terrified of him when he’s been pissed off, and he didn’t want to be the one to do it. 

“So, you never did tell me what you were doing out here to begin with?” Jihoon asked him. Soonyoung groaned and buried his face in his hands. It wasn’t Jihoon’s fault and he knows this, he’s not angry at him. “I was trying to work out a plan with the blueprints Wonwoo gave me so that I could get a feel for the layout.” Soonyoung told him. “It’s not going too well.” “What’s wrong, you never have any trouble coming up with a plan.” Jihoon said. “Wonwoo.” Soonyoung told him with a sheepish smile on his face. He had a slight blush to his face that Jihoon didn’t miss and he gave him an exasperated roll of his eyes. “Really Soon?” He said in a slightly annoyed voice. “Not like that you morn, get your dirty mind out of the gutter!” Soonyoung bit back with. “I’m worried about him, ever since we found that hard drive he hasn’t been acting like himself and I’m worried about him ok?” Soonyoung said. “I’ve never seen him like this and it's scary for me Hoonie, I don’t know what to do and he won’t talk to me at all.” Soonyoung sighed and slumped back against the back of the couch. “Every time that I try to talk to him he either brushes me off or ignores me completely and it’s driving me Mad! Has he said anything to you?” He asked him. And Jihoon couldn’t deprive him of what he wanted since Soonyoung had pulled out his puppy dog's eyes, or cute little tiger eyes since he looks like a tiger when he squints his eyes. “No, he hasn’t said anything to me, all that he’s done is work on his computer and sulk at his screen all day since we talk with Cheol-Hyung.” Jihoon told him. And he didn’t miss the way that Soonyoung’s shoulder slumped in defeat at the news. He had to do something to cheer him up. After all, Soonyoung was his best friend, even if he did get on his nerves sometimes. 

“You have a crush on Wonwoo, that’s why you can’t focus.” Jihoon told him flat out. The way that Soonyoung jumped in his seat, and went straight as a board in his seat, and slapped a hand over his mouth, and the way that he had turned bright red, meant that Jihoon hit it on the money. “Ssh! Are you crazy! He could have heard you, you big mouth!” Soonyoung telled him. “Well, you didn’t deny it so I take it I'm right then.” Jihoon said from behind his hand. And when Soonyoung wouldn’t remove his hand from his face, he licked it. “Eww gross !” Soonyoung squeaked. But Soonyoung was still bright red with an embarrassed flush and he was avoiding eye contact with him. “Hey, I didn’t mean to freak you out or anything, you know me I’m just to the point with this stuff.” Jihoon said. “What I meant to say is, that I know you’re worried about him, and having a crush on Wonwoo didn’t help any and that’s why you can’t focus.” Soonyoung just hummed in response. “I know that, I just… want him to be ok, and he’s not and it’s killing me… what do I do?” Soonyoung asked. “I don’t know what to tell you Soon, I mean I suck at stuff like this, and I only just realized that I have not so platonic feelings for Jun..” Jihoon quickly clapped his hands over his mouth so fast he’s pretty sure that his heart skipped a beat. “What?” Soonyoung asked him, completely shocked. He couldn’t believe this! 

“You have a crush on Jun, are Junnie the muscle, who at the same time is one of the most deadliest people on this and also can’t hurt a fly even if provoked?” Soonyoung asked him all excitedly. He had turned to face Jihoon and had caged him into the end of the couch and was waiting for him to say something. “ I … I think so… I don’t know Soonyoung. I just realized this 5 minutes ago!” Jihoon yelled at him. Jihoon was a little bit annoyed at this point, but again it wasn’t directed towards Soonyoung, but he was here so… What surprised him more was the fact that Soonyoung just flung his arms out and wrapped Jihoon up in his embrace to give him a bear hug. “I’m so proud of you, I know that you say that you don’t feel things like these, and I know that you have a hard time opening up to people, but I'm glad that Junnie melted that ice brick you call a heart.” Soonyoung whispered into his ears. Jihoon just smiled and hugged him back. He knew that he could get Soonyoung to cheer up, he just didn’t expect things to go down like this. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

A couple of days later, after Soonyoung had finally been able to make up a plan after their little talk, Seungcheol had gathered everyone in their tiny living room for a meeting. Everyone was cramped together, and it was later in the evening since they had to wait for all of the med students to arrive home from their long days of classes and work. All three of them were still in their scrubs and were scattered around the room. Joshua was cuddled up in the armchair with Jeonghan that was closest to where Seugncheol was standing. And at his sides stood Jihoon and Soonyoung. Hansol, Chan, and Seungkwan were on the floor around the coffee table. Mingyu, Seokmin, and Minghao were all crammed together on their dinky little couch, with Jun sitting on the arm of the sofa next to the other thief of the group. And Wonwoo was sitting in the other armchair in the room. All of them were sitting around waiting on Seungcheol to start the debrief. Well, here goes nothing. 

“Ok.” Seungcheol said. “Well, you all know the drill by now, this is another debrief for a possible next mission.” he glanced out of the corner of his eye to catch a glimpse at Wonwoo. The older hacker was sitting in his seat and wasn’t making eye contact with anyone in the room. He had a blank face on and it was very hard to read his expression at the moment. Seungcheol sighed to himself and nodded his head to Jihoon as a signal to start the presentation that they had made to go with their plan. “During our last job, we had recovered a hard drive that had all of the buyers, sellers, and known associates of La Fonte.” Jihoon said. “After we got home I started digging around to leak out what information was needed to cause the right amount of chaos that we needed and to see what else I could find.” Jihoon said as he pressed some keys on the keyboard. “What I found was this.” He pressed another few keys and the Jeon family crest popped up on the screen for everyone to see. At first no one really reacted, most of them didn’t know what it was that they were looking and they could tell by their faces that they couldn't. That is until Mingyu spoke up, “Hyung,... Is this..?” He asked him. He had looked at Wonwoo with a very concerning look in his eye. They all knew that Mingyu and Wonwoo were closed before they both joined, so they knew that he would recognize it. Wonwoo didn’t say anything for a while. But every pair of eyes in the room turned to look at him in varying expressions of concern and intrigue. It was only a matter of time before he’d break. 

“Yes, Mingyu.” Wonwoo said softly. “That’s my family crest that you all are looking at.” Wonwoo told him. The whole room went into a very tense silence after that. Everyone in the group knew that Wonwoo and Mingyu came from very well off families and they also knew that Wonwoo’s wasn’t the nicest out of any of them. That’s how he got into hacking, a way to get out from underneath their thumb and to be his own person so that he can help people. And Mingyu had followed him because he was concerned and when he realized what his Hyung was doing he wanted to help them. Their story was the simplest out of all of theirs or so everyone had thought. “My parents are the co-CEOs of Jeon Enterprises.” Wonwoo said. “Everyone thinks that they’re wealthy, charitable people, but in reality they run one of the biggest loan sharking and money laundry businesses in the country.” Wonwoo said. No one said anything after that. They all just stared at them for what felt like hours in Soonyoung’s opinion. He was buzzing with nervous energy. 

Wonwoo didn’t do anything, he just sat there and stared off into space. Everyone was too scared to say anything to him. No one wanted to make him upset or anything but, they were also worried about his mental state. Though the tense silence was eventually broken by Seokmin, who just couldn’t stand the possibility of his Hyung suffering anymore. God love that kid, Soonyoung thought to himself. “Wonwoo-Hyung are you ok?” Seokmin asked him. Wonwoo didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes. And when he did Soonyoung about lost it. “I’m fine Seok-ah, they're just another mission.” He said in a very cold, hard tone. Soonyoung has had enough of it at this point. “What do you mean they’re another mission?!” He shouted. “They’re your parents for God’s sake, don’t you even care about them?!” No one in the room had said anything after his outburst. Rather it was because no one knew what to do or they were too scared to speak up and it was up to anyone’s interruptertation. Wonwoo didn’t say anything for awhile, and when he did the calm mask broke. “I know that they are my parents, but I disowned them a long time ago for their cowardly and immoral actions.” Wonwoo said in a low and dangerous tone. “And I want to go after them since they’re part of the bad guys ok?!” He yelled at Soonyoung as he stormed off to the office. It wasn’t long before they heard a loud bang as the door slammed itself shut.

Once the sound of the door slam quieted down, no one said a word. Everyone still in the living room was dead quiet. No one wanted to say anything to make the situation way worse than it already was. This went on for about 10 minutes before the silence was broken by Soonyoung. When the shock of Wonwoo storming off finally hit, Soonyoung just started crying his eyes out. It was nothing pretty to see. And even though Jihoon really isn’t one for emotions, he quickly stepped in and took Soonyoung by the arm and took him back to their shared bedroom. No one said anything as the pair made their way through the apartment, but Jihoon didn’t stop on his way as he passed the now closed office door. He gave the thing a really hard sidekick as he passed and hoped that his fellow 96 liner got the message. No one else said anything after that. Not long after they all slowly dispersed out into the apartment. Mingyu disappeared into the kitchen and took Minghao, Seokmin, and Jun with him. They were all worried about him too even though Wonwoo was their main concern. Hansol had taken Seungkwan and Chan into their own shared room to play videogames or something to that effect is what he told Seungcheol. And that left the 3 oldest alone in the living room. They didn’t have to communicate verbally for them to know what they had to do now to try and fix everything. They each nodded their heads and split up to go on their merry way. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

After the confrontation in the living room, Wonwoo retreated to the office to cool off and try to get his back together and on straight. So far it wasn’t really working like he hoped that it would. He’s never been that mad before in his life, even if it was directed at his parents, who he was constantly at odds with. But when Soonyoung had spoken to him, it just got his blood boiling so bad that he just saw red. He by no means ever meant to take out his bottled up anger out on his friend, it just sort of happened. And catching a glimpse of Soonyoung’s heartbroken expression really pulled at his heart strings more than he cared to admit to himself. But regardless he still felt like an ass for the way that he has been acting towards his members, Soonyoung in particular these past few days. He knows that they’re worried about him, and he appreciates that a lot, but at the same time he just wants to be left alone. He’s fine, he just wants his parents to be brought to justice and to be punished for all of the horrible and illegal things that they have done in their lives. And he knows that it sounds messed up, but at this point he doesn’t really have feelings towards his parents anymore. His little brother, yes, it’ll be a very, very cold day in Hell before he ever stops loving him, but their parents are a whole different story. He just wants them out of the way, so that he can take care of his little brother and not have to worry about them trying to drag poor little Bohyuk into their business. His little brother isn’t cut out for a life of crime like his or their parents. He just wants to go to school to become a doctor the last time that Wonwoo had talked to him. And he wasn’t going to let their parents stand in the way of that dream of his. 

Wonwoo was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear it when someone was trying the lock at the door. Though even if he did, he probably wouldn’t go and unlock it anyway. So, suffice to say that he about had a heart attack when he felt someone place their hand on his shoulder. He jumped in his seat and quickly turned it around to see who it was that broke into the office through a locked door. He at first thought that it was Jihoon, coming in to beat his ass for upsetting his best friend. Even though the other hacker is the shortest out of all 13 of them, he can really kick some ass when he wants to and is one of the more terrifying members of the group. But he was even more scared to see that it was Jeonghan standing in front of him. He didn’t say anything about scaring Wonwoo, but the younger didn’t miss the little smirk that the older male was trying to hide behind his hands. That jerk. Though when compared to angry Jihoon, a possibly angry Jeonghan is at least 10 times worse to deal with. He was a little bit scared about that. When he had calmed down from his little jump scare, he was able to talk to his Hyung. “Is there something the matter Hyung?” He asked him. He was really hoping that he wasn’t too pissed at him, it wouldn’t end well. Jeonghan just shook his head a little and moved to roll Jihoon’s desk chair over next to the one that he was sitting in. Weird. 

“Can’t I just be a good Hyung and come and watch my dongsaeng work?” He asked him. “You can, but you usually don’t, in fact you really don’t come in here at all unless you’re draggin Jihoon out to rest or you’re monitoring a mission.” Wonwoo told him. Jeonghan rolled his eyes good naturally, and pushed some of his hair back behind his ears. “Well, ok you caught me.” Jeonghan said. “I’m here to check up on you, Cheol took Soonie and Hoonie, and Shua has the rest of the kids, so here I am.” Jeonghan told him in a somewhat flippant tone. Wonwoo just shrugged and turned around to face his computer screen. Maybe if he makes it look like he’s busy working then Jeonghan will just get bored and leave him be. “That’s not going to work Wonwoo, I’m not leaving until you talk to me.” Well, guess he’s going to have to wait a while then, because Wonwoo really didn’t want to talk to anybody. He was fine, ok. The two of them didn’t talk for what felt like forever before Jeonghan spoke up. “I know how it feels.” He said in almost a whisper. And that made Wonwoo pause. 

“No offense Hyung, but how would you ever know what it feels like right now?” He asked him. And Jeonghan could detect in his tone that he was on the verge of tears. He knew that he had to go on with this, even though he didn’t want to. He was the one who opened the door after all. “My dad beat me.” He blurted out before he could organize his thoughts into a more coherent string. And from the look on Wonwoo’s face he wasn’t expecting him to say that either. But like he said before, Jeonghan’s the one who opened the door, so he can’t back out of this yet. “What I meant to say is.. Well it was my stepdad, but yeah I was abused as a child.” Jeonghan told him. “Hyung..” Wonwoo said softly, but Jeonghan dismissed him with a wave of his hands. “No, uh let me say this first please and then you can say whatever you want.” Jeonghan told him. Wonwoo nodded and kept his mouth shut. Jeonghan closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing on. Here goes nothing then. 

“I never knew my biological father, he was a deadbeat drunk, and stoner who ditched my mom when she told him that I was pregnant.” Jeonghan started off. “Not long after I was born she met my stepdad, they really hit it off and not even a year later they had gotten married and a couple of years after that my little sister Hana came along.” He paused for a moment after that, he was a little unsure on how to continue after that. “When I was about 9 or 10 my stepfather lost his job, and he turned to drinking and gambling as a way to cope with it.” Jeonghan told him. “At first no one in my family really thought anything of it you know? He was just in a funk and he’d get back on his feet in a couple of weeks.” Jeonghan paused for a moment and started playing with the necklace that was hanging around his neck. It was a gift that Seungcheol had given him when he first joined. It was a knock off of what’s supposed to be a pair of angel wings, he got from some jeweler that he helped when a couple of thugs tried to rob his store. It was one, if not his most prized possession and he hasn’t taken it off ever since. “As far as I know of it’s been over a decade and he still doesn’t have a job.” Jeonghan told him. “And everytime that my mom would bring it up he’d smack her across the face at the very least.” Wonwoo could gape at him. He never knew this about his Hyung, he knew that he came from a broken home before he joined the group but he never knew that it was this bad. 

“Things only got worse from there.” Jeonghan said in a small voice. “Eventually I figured that the only way for us to have any money was to try and find a job.” He told him. “But no one would hire a child so I had to get creative.” “That’s how you got into grifting then?” Wonwoo asked him. Jeonghan nodded his head. “Yeah, and my great and long grifting career started from there, I would get as much money as I could and divide it between my mother and my little sister.” Jeonghan told him. “My supposed father had already screwed me over and ruined my future, I wasn’t going to let that happen to my sister too, Hana didn’t deserve it.” He then moved from playing with his necklace to playing with a hole that he had in his jeans. “Everything was ok for a while, my mom would end up giving him her share of the money so he wouldn’t hit her, he would anyway, and I’d step in and then he’d lay into me.” Jeonghan said. “Then, one day.. I.. he..” His Hyung choked out. Wonwoo looked up when he realized that his Hyung was having a hard time talking. He could see that his Hyung was trying and failing to hold back tears. “One day I came home from school and was met at the door by my stepfather.” Jeonghan told him. “He grabbed me by my neck and dragged me into the house and threw me into the wall. I slammed my shoulder against it and fell to the floor. When I looked up he was standing over top of me. He had pulled out a wad of cash and threw it in my face. He told me that he knew that I was the one that was getting the money and he knew that I didn’t give all of it to my mom.” Jeonghan laughed darkly at that. “To this day I never know if he found out on his own or because my mother ratted me out to him.” He sighed and pushed some of his hair back behind his ear. “Anyway, he was really pissed off at me and things only escalated from there.I refused to tell him where I got the money from and what I was going with it. He told me that if I was going to act like a little bitch then he was going to treat me like one.” He then wrapped his arms around himself. Wonwoo saw him start to rock back and forth as a way of self-soothing. He didn’t know if his Hyung realized if he was doing it or not though. “He picked me up and threw me on the couch…. Then...then he-he u-unbuckled-d m-my p-ants, and…” He removed his hands from around his stomach and brought them up to his face to cover his tears. 

Wonwoo found himself tearing up too at hearing his Hyung’s confession, but tried not to cry so he could be there for him. After what felt like an eternity, Jeonghan was finally able to speak again. “Well, you get the gist of it.” He told him. “But the whole point of me telling you this is that I know what it’s like to think that you can trust someone that’s supposed to love you and then realize too late that you can’t.” He told him. “And if you ever need someone to talk to then I’m here for you ok?” What happened next surprised both of them very much. Wonwoo flung himself out of his chair and over to Jeonghan and wrapped his arms around him in a giant hug. He just held him there for a while. Jeonghan himself was so shocked that it took him a bit to return the hug. “I’m here for you too Hyung if you need it, I may not get it, but I’m willing to listen.” Wonwoo said as he started to cry. And that in turn got Jeonghan going again too and both of them sat there hugging each other and crying for at least an hour. 

Pulling away, Wonwoo wiped his eyes before he got around to asking his Hyung a question. “Does anyone else know Hyung?” He asked him. Jeonghan took a few minutes before he was able to answer him. “Cheol, and Shua know the full story for the most part, which I just told you now, Channie, Hoonie, Soonie, and Sammy when he was here knew a more generalized version of it.” Jeonghan told him. “And I never out right said it to Hao, but he knows a little bit too, that’s what I said to get him to trust me when he first came here.” “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” Wonwoo told him. “Thanks Wonnie, but I never really cared if it was kept a secret or not, I just didn’t want to talk about it so no one ever brings it up.” He said. Jeonghan then got up off of the floor and dusted himself off. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my fill of spilling all my dirty secrets, I’m going to take a nap.” Jeonghan told him. “Tell everyone to come and wake me when dinner’s ready.” He said as he walked out of the door, leaving Wonwoo completely and utterly awestruck. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Jihoon sighed to himself as he crashed on the couch in the living room. He came there after he finally got Soonyoung to calm down enough to take a nap before dinner. He also ran into Jun on his walk down the hallway and then ran into the wall. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he figured it wouldn’t be easy for people to bother him on the couch if they thought that he was asleep. Though his plans got derailed when he laid down and couldn’t get to sleep. Now, this wasn’t a first for Jihoon, but it’s also something that doesn’t really happen either. He ended up tossing and turning for a few minutes before he finally gave up on trying to sleep and decided to just lay there. It lasted about 5 minutes before it became so mind-numbing boring for him that he couldn’t take it anymore. Groaning, he grabbed a throw pillow and placed it over his head to muffle his screams of frustration. He was just so done with today. He wanted it to be over and he wanted all of this crappy drama to end so that they can just get back to where things were before. 

  
  


And even though he is still pissed at Wonwoo for how he treated his best friend earlier, but at the same time he felt bad for him. Yes, his parents aren’t money laundering loan sharks with ties to the mob and it wouldn’t surprise him if they also killed people too, but his parents weren’t the best either. His parents really just didn’t give a crap about what happened to him, well at least his father didn’t. His mother was the one to encourage him to do the things that he always wanted to do, but his father always found a way to get to him anyway. But that’s all in the past now and he wants to put as much space as he can between him and his memories. He eventually just gives up on thinking and decides to lay there with the pillow over his face and hopes for either sleep or death, whichever one comes first. 

  
  


“Jihoon? What are you doing?” Well, he forgot to put into account the factor of Seungcheol coming in and checking on him. He just groaned weakly in response. “I’m sorry I don’t speak couch pillow.” Seungcheol said. “And I thought that you would be in the office either working or chewing Wonwoo out.” Jihoon just shrugged and laid there. “Wanted a break, but I can’t sleep.” Jihoon told him, though it was hard for Seungcheol to understand him with the pillow over his face. Seugncheol sighed and shook his head as he sat down by Jihoon’s feet and reached over to take the pillow off of his face. “Ok, now that I can understand you, we can have a nice little conversation.” Seungcheol told him with a smile on his face. That smile made Jihoon want to smack him. He didn’t though, partly because it was his leader and he didn’t want to get his ass beaten and the other part was that he didn’t want to move. He just laid there and didn’t say anything for a while. He hoped that if he didn’t talk then maybe Seungcheol would get bored and leave him alone. Though knowing Seungcheol he wouldn’t. “How’s Soonyoung doing?” He asked him. Jihoon just shrugged before answering him. “He’s ok I think, he’s still upset more at himself than Wonwoo I think, but he’s doing better.” Jihoon told him. “I made him take a nap and told him that I’d wake him when dinner was ready.” Seungcheol nodded his head and turned it to look at the wall. What he could find so interesting on their wall was beyond Jihoon, but who was he to complain. He figured as long as the both of them were here he might as well ask him a question that’s been burning in his mind for a while now. 

“Hyung?” Woozi asked. Seungcheol hummed in acknowledgement, and turned to look at him. “Yes Hoonie?” He asked him. “Um,.... I need your help with something.” Jihoon said. “How did you realize that you were in love with Jeonghan-Hyung and Joshua-Hyung?” Seungcheol was taken aback a bit by that question. In all the time that he has known Jihoon, he’s never seen him be this open with his emotions before. Jihoon was one of his many dongsaengs who kept his feelings bottled up and wouldn’t talk about them even if his life depended on it. After a few minutes he was able to pull himself together to answer him. “Well, it wasn’t something all at once, it was more gradual I guess, if that makes any sense.” Seungcheol told him. “I mean, when I first met Hannie, I thought he was beautiful and I also wanted to punch him, like really hard.” He told him with a little laugh. “But after a while of knowing him, I just wanted to be near him, I wanted to protect, and then I just realized it one day when it dawned on me. I had talked him into going out to get ice cream with me, when I was buying a birthday present for Channie.” Seungcheol told him. “We were sitting on a bench eating when I just happened to look over at him and it hit me that I loved him.” Seungcheol said. “And Shua was a completely different story, after we kind of threatened him into helping us, I went back to the hospital to track him down when I was better to say thank you and apologize for any inconvenience that we may have caused him.” Seungcheol said, as he played with the pillow in his lap. “When I saw him again I was floored, I was too out of it to really pay attention to what he looked like the first time, there was just something about him that drew me to him.” Seungcheol told him. “Now, what happened after that and how all three of us got together was a real big mess.” 

“But the one thing that I can tell you is that it’s different for everyone, but once you realize that you love someone tell them.” Seungcheol told him with a serious look. “Because you never know when something could come up to jeopardize your relationship with them and that person or persons could end up leaving you.” Jihoon laid there for a few minutes, pondering over the advice that Seungcheol gave him. “You mean that I have to go and tell that person about it? What if they don’t feel the same way, what do I do then?” Jihoon asked him. “Don’t stress out about it Hoonie, I”m sure Junnie feels the same way about you, and if he doesn't he wouldn’t be mean to you about it.” Seungcheol told him. Jihoon nodded his head, and then it dawned on him that he didn’t tell Seungcheol who it was that he wanted to confess to. “How did you know that it was Jun? I never told you.” Jihoon told him perplexed. “Like Hannie tells you all, all the time, he knows everything that goes on in this apartment and what he doesn’t tell you guys is that what he knows he tells it to me and Shua.” Seungcheol told him. And he started laughing at the horrified face that Jihoon was making. He patted Jihoon on the foot. Seungcheol had the uttermost confidence in his dongsaeng that everything would go alright, he had nothing to worry about. 

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This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was just supposed to be another, regular routine job, no one was supposed to get hurt. Everything was going on track and they were following the plan perfectly. During the big grand plan that they have been trying to cook up to help Wonwoo take down his parents, they decided to do smaller jobs along the way to take out the links connected to them. The way that Seungcheol described it, it’d be like stepping stones, to work themselves up to be able to take down the Jeons once and for all. They had everything planned out and no one saw anything going wrong with it. That was because there wasn’t supposed to be anything going wrong with the plan. Soonyoung, Seungcheol, Wonwoo and Jihoon had worked on this thing day and night for over two weeks to make it full-proof. Though one thing that they learned from this mission is that a plan is never as full-proof as one thinks it is. Which led them to where they are now. 

To give more detail about this, let’s start off with where things were earlier that evening. They were able to come up with a plan to take down one of the casinos that’s attached to Jeon Enterprises. Everything was planned out intricately. The Blue Royal Casino was hosting a big charity event that night. It was the perfect excuse to get in and out without being detected since there would be so many people going in and out of there. Though they came to find out later on that the money that they were collecting was going into the Jeon's back pocket and not for the people who really needed it. Seokmin and Joshua had a shift that night so Seungkwan was on standby with them, though he ended up being roped into playing a part for this job. Seungcheol and Jeonghan were posing as a couple for the event. While Mingyu this time was in charge of distracting the mark. He was posing as a rep for a company that sold machines to casinos. Chan and Vernon were on wait staff duty that night, since that gave them a chance to move around more and not be suspected of anything. Wonwoo and Jun were security for the event, they were using this as a ruse to be able to sneak Wonwoo in to hack into their system and see what’s going on and bring Jihoon in to get any information that they could before moving on. And Soonyoung and The8 were tasked with breaking into the CEO’s office to see if they could find any incriminating evidence. And they had poor Seungkwan acting as an innocent party goer, until they needed a distraction, which Seungcheol and Jeonghan would help him with. 

For the first two hours on the job, there were no problems whatsoever. Yeah, it was loud and stuff, that’s a casino for you after all, but at the same time it was dead quiet. Jihoon ends beginning to be bored after the first 30 minutes. Though he gets excited when Wonwoo is able to sneak off to one of the many security offices in the building to patch him into the network. Everything was running smoothly. Jeonghan was hanging off of Seungcheol and the two were playing the perfect part of a happy-go-lucky couple enjoying a night to themselves and also helping out those in need. Mingyu was chatting up the mark about something to do which game he thought was better, Blackjack, or Poker. Chan and Hansol were making their rounds around the room scoping out the area. And poor Seungkwan was just standing there, looking extremely awkward and very, very lost. He’s had about 3 hookers come up to him to try and solicit him. He didn’t know what they were until Jeonghan had chimed in over the ear pieces to tell him. And Seugnkwan’s face turned blood red as he stuttered out that he was gay and very in love with his boss at the acoutant firm that he worked at, and how he came here to drink his sorrows away because his boss was married and wouldn’t leave his wife for him, but he couldn’t leave him either. The poor girl looked at him horror struck and slowly backed away. The rest of the group just started laughing at him, while Seungkwan turned red. 

While the rest of the group was laughing at Seungkwan, Jihoon decided it was time to check in on Wonwoo and them. “Hey Wonwoo, how’s it going?” He asked him. It took a few minutes to answer him. “I’m almost in, Jun had convinced the others to send us up here to watch the cameras of the place.” Wonwoo said. “You should be getting a notification any second now.” Jihoon hummed over the line and turned his attention to the two thieves. “Hoshi, The8, where are you two?” Woozi asked. “I’m down in the vault where all of the valuables and profit is held.” Hoshi stated. “I’m in the CEO’s office, I’ve almost gotten the safe open.” The The8 called into the comm link. “Ok, Woozi you should have it now.” Wonwoo said. Jihoon turned to his main monitor to see the notification pop up on his screen. He clicked on it and he was in the mainframe for the casino. While Jihoon was working he realized that he hadn’t heard anything from Jun at all that night. “Jun? You there?” Jihoon called into the comm as he was typing at his computer. “Yes?” Jun replied. “Do you need something Woozi?” He asked him. “No, no I was just checking in, you’ve been quiet tonight just wanted to make sure that everything was ok.” And Jihoon could feel Jeonghan’s evil smile on the other end of the line. “Well, thank you Woozi-ah, but I’m ok, I’m just keeping a look out for Wonwoo-ah.” Jun said. “No problem.” Jihoon told him. 

It wasn’t that long after that, when he got an alert on his computer. The alert read that someone had tripped the motion sensors that he had Minghao plant on his way to the CEO’s office in the server room. “Wonwoo, do you see this?” Jihoon asked. “Yeah, there’s someone in there messing with things that they shouldn’t be.” He said. “S.Coups, what do we do?” Jihoon called into the comm, it took a few seconds for their leader to answer them, but when he did Jihoon had a bad feeling pooling in his stomach. “Who’s the closet that’s available, because me and Hannie, or Mingyu can’t get away without raising suspicion on us?” He asked. “I’m close.” Jun and The8 said at the same time. “The8 have you cracked the safe yet?” Seungcheol asked him. “Almost, the safe’s from the 50s, but this guy had it tricked out a bit to make it harder to break into.” Minghao said. “Jun, can you leave Wonwoo for a few minutes?” “I’m almost done Hyung, Jun can go ahead without me.” Wonwoo butted in. “Ok, then Jun go on ahead, but be careful, Jihoon keep your eye on the cameras, Wonwoo, The8, when you’re done head to Jun’s location as back up, I have a feeling about this.” “On it.” They all said in unison. Jihoon then turned his full attention to the security cameras to watch Jun’s movement. Though the closer the older got to the server room the fuzzier the image got. “Jun, Jun, come in Jun.” Jihoon said. He started to panic a bit when he didn’t get an answer back. “Guys, I think something's wrong.” 

And that my dear friends is where everything went to Hell and a handbasket. When no one else could get Jun on the comms, everyone was trying not to get in a frenzy. Seungcheol took over after a few minutes and called for evacuation. He sent Jeonghan, with Seungkwan to collect Chan, and Hansol and take them to the car where they’ll be safe. Jeonghan didn’t want him to go alone but he eventually gave in and went to collect the three youngest. Seungcheol told Mingyu to get away from the mark however he could and to meet him, Wonwoo, and The8 in the server room to check on Jun. He told Soonyoung to get out and to meet the others in the car. And Jihoon was sitting in front of his computer, worrying himself to death. He lost all contact with Jun and the closer that the others got to him the worse the connection got. He was really worried. And after like 20 minutes of this the line finally went back to normal. “Well, Junnie-Ge it’s been fun, but I’m afraid that this is where we have to cut our conversation short.” A voice that Jihoon thought that he would never hear again said over the line. “And do tell Seungcheol that I’m sorry to have missed him.” And that was when he heard a loud bang sound, more than once. Jihoon thought that he was going to be sick. 

Everything was dead silent for a few minutes after that. Jihoon was pretty sure that no one was breathing, they were all just waiting to see what had happened. No one was still able to get Jun on the line and he could tell without even looking at him that Jeonghan was about 2 seconds away from telling Soonyoung to take the kids home, call Seokmin and Joshua and tell them to get their asses home, while he barged back in to see what the Hell was going on. It wasn’t until about 30 seconds later that everything came crashing down around him. “JUN’S BEEN SHOT!” Minghao shouted into the comm. In all of the years that Jihoon has known the younger man he’s never seen or heard him this panicked. Not long after that he heard Seungcheol and the others burst into the room. He had Wonwoo and Mingyu go and check the halls to see if the gunman was still near. And he vaguely registered Seungcheol telling him to check all of the cameras and do a check in on Jeonghan and the kids and telling them to call Seokmin and Joshua at the hospital to warm them.. Everything around Jihoon was going in and out of focus around him. Jun never got hurt, he was the one member that they didn’t have to worry about that with. He’s always one of the more careful ones on mission. Though everything doesn’t last forever like one thinks it does. And the worst part was, that Jihoon never did tell him how he felt. He was going to tell him after tonight, and now he might not be able to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger! Hope you guys enjoyed! And thank you for all the love and support that this story has gotten, When I first posted this I never thought that it would blow up like it did. So thank all of you very much from the bottom of my heart. See you guys next time.   
> -N.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the shooting, and some mysteries they just realized they have to solve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I've finished half of the Voltron Au Series, so I'm back to working on this until I'm done with all of the chapters that I have listed in Google Docs. Which means about 10 more chapters, then going back to finishing Voltron, with a couple of one shots in-between hopefully. I'll stop talking now to let you all get to reading. Have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 11

Jihoon was numb, that was the only thing that he could use to describe it. He just couldn’t feel anything at all in the moment. He just went through it all in a daze. He barely remembers leaving the apartment and going down to hail a cab to take him to the hospital. He’s not even sure if he locked the apartment or not. But he just resigned to the fact that Seungcheol can yell at him for it later if he wants to. Barely remembers going out and just throwing some money that he had at the driver and bolted into the building. It wasn’t that hard to find the rest of his group. They were the largest group that was gathered in the room. Looking at his new family wasn;t any easier than hearing them over the comm links right after Jun got shot was. He was able to pick out Seungcheol first, and their leader was sitting in a chair closest to the doors to where the ER was located. Jeonghan was sitting so close next to him that he was in his lap. His head was buried in Seungcheol’s neck and Jihoon had a pretty good guess that he was crying. But the two of them still seemed to be the most composed out of all of them. Going through to make sure that everyone was here and that they were okay, and he found that only 4 of them were missing. Jun was obviously not there, and Joshua dn Seokmin were on call that night, so that meant that Seungkwan must have slipped off to scrub in with them. The two maknaes that were still left were right next to them. Hansol and Chan didn’t look that much better than the two eldest but they seemed okay. Jihoon noticed that they were quieter than they normally were, but other than that they seemed unharmed. Next to them were Soonyoung and Wonwoo. Soonyoung was sitting right next to Chan and was holding the other in an one armed hug, trying to offer some sort of comfort. Wonwoo was sitting on his best friend’s other side next to Mingyu and Minghao. And this was where things got bad. Mingyu himself seemed to be perfectly fine, not a hair was even out of place on his head. He seemed perfectly calm and collected. Which was nice since it seemed that Minghao was coming undone at the seams. Some random person wouldn’t be able to tell this just by walking in and looking at him, but they all knew each other well enough to know the signs.

Jihoon knew that his dongsaeng was a ticking time bomb that he didn’t want to be anywhere near at the moment. So he quickly walked over to where Seungcheol and Jeonghan were sitting, hoping to get some answers out of this. “Hyung?” Jihoon said softly as he approached the older males. He really wanted to know what was going on but at the same time he didn’t want to startle them and make things worse than they actually are. He had hoped to keep his voice soft and even so he wouldn’t scare them at all, but Jeonghan still jumped a little bit when he heard them. Seungcheol lifted his head up to see who was trying to talk to him. When he was able to make eye contact with Jihoon he saw relief wash through him. Thinking about it now, Jihoon guesses that Seungcheol must be really on edge since not all of his members were with him. And it probably didn’t help that all of them weren’t together when Jun got shot, and all of them just couldn’t get in a car and go. Jihoon showing up now probably relieved a lot of the anxiety and stress that was swirling through his body at the moment. Though Seungcheol has gotten really good at having his poker face over the years, with help from Jeonghan. But he could tell that their leader was holding back his own inner turmoil, so as not to scare the rest of them. And that meant that things probably weren’t going good, and that just freaked Jihoon out even more than before.

“Hey Jihoon-ah.” Seungcheol greeted him quietly. “I didn’t hear you come in, take a seat somewhere if you find one, we still haven’t heard anything.” Seungcheol told him. Jeonghan who was sitting on Seungcheol’s lap made him move over so that Jihoon had a place to sit. He ended up sitting in between Seungcheol with Jeonghan on his lap and Hansol. Speaking of Jeonghan, he had turned himself in Suengcheol’s lap so that he was facing Jihoon to where he could see him, while still being attached to Seungcheol at the hip. Now that Jihoon could get a decent look at his face he could definitely tell that his Hyung had been crying. He looked like someone had punched him in the face. But Jihoon knew that he had pulled him over to them to make sure that he was alright. It was typical of Jeonghan that even though he was suffering himself, he would put all of his issues on the back burner to make sure that everyone around him was alright. And even though Jihoon never tells him this enough, he does in fact love all of his Hyungs, and he’s grateful that he has ones like Jeonghan, Seungcheol, and Joshua to take care of him. And he loved his younger members too but he would never admit that to any of them out loud. He may love those little brats but he knew that the minute that he tells anyone of them that he’s a dead man.(metaphorically speaking of course.) He feels better about anything and everything when he’s with his family. He just hopes that they are able to get through this bump in the road that life had thrown at them this time, because God, this is a big one. And the funny thing is that they don’t even know the half of it yet. 

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All 10 of them sat around one of the more quieter waiting rooms of the ER, waiting for any kind of news about Jun. Everyone was turning their attention to the door every couple of seconds or when they heard the door open, which happened first. All of the men were very on edge, and they all jumped at the slightest little noise. They were all tired, and agitated, scared, and worried and a bunch of other emotions that they were experiencing too fast for any of them ro process properly. It was a long night, well morning at this point Seunghceol was pretty sure.He was worried out of his mind about what would happen to Jun. He was a sweet kid, who never did anything wrong in his life, except when he ended up being trained by “The Agency” back in China. But he was just a kid at the time, Minghao too, and they didn’t have a choice, it was either they did as they were told or they’d die, simple as that. And to think that Jun was shot, and could possibly be killed by the kid that was his baby until Minghao came along. Seungcheol knew the shooter, almost everyone on the team knew the shooter. The ones that didn’t know him personally or at all heard all of the stories about him though. And that’s what made it so much worse for all of them.

MingMing, and Jun were attached at the hip, even more so than Jeonghan, Joshua and him. When they had accidentally encountered the two Chinese mercenaries at the time, they thought that they were dangerous. Seungcheol can remember coming back to that old rickety slum house that they first started out in. It wasn’t the first place that they had lived in though, that place was a crummy little apartment that he lived in with Chan, Soonyoung, Jihoon, Samuel, and Jeonghan. The six of them ended up moving into that crumbling house not that long after Jeonghan had joined them after he left home. They had done enough legit odd jobs, and some other stuff on the side by then to be able to afford the rent somewhat. And it also helped that they did some labor for their landlord, who was a sweet old lady whose children were too lazy to come and visit her. All that they had to do really was work in her garden, help change some light bulbs and sit and listen to her gush about and show baby pictures of her grandchildren that were older than Seungcheol and Jeonghan. They all felt bad for her, the lady’s name was Mrs. Kim, and she was one of the sweetest people that Seungcheol has ever met in his life. Jeonghan and the little kids grew close to her too. Jeonghan always used to tell her how much she reminded him of his own grandmother when she was still alive. And he would drag Chan and Sammy down to go and visit her since they were the youngest. It devastated him when he and Jihoon went down one day to bring her food and they found her dead in her bed. They moved out about a month later when her son came in and said that he sold the place and it was going to be torn down in about a month. It took Seungcheol, Soonyoung, Jihoon, and the newly acquired Joshua to keep Jeonghan from killing the asshole right then and there. Needless to say they were gone the next day, and Jihoon was able to bankrupt the guy not that long after. That was the happiest that anyone had seen Jeonghan in a while. 

And a couple of months later was when they met Jun and MingMing. That night after they all got home they had sent Chan and Sammy to bed and were trying to figure out what to do about the two of them. Jihoon wanted to leak out where they were and see if they could get their agency to come and take them back to deal with them. Jeonghan and Joshua vetoed that idea from the start. This was also around the time that they had met Wonwoo and Mingyu and had brought the two of them into their folds. They too were involved in what they wanted to do about them. Their group was just starting out at the time and it was one of the first times that they had gotten beat by another crew or competitor. Seungcheol didn’t know what to do on the matter, and so was Mingyu who didn’t really get what the big deal was and why they just couldn’t leave them alone. Wonwoo then explained that they could have killed them all that night and they could still do it if they ever met again. Wonwoo wanted them out of the way to where they couldn’t hurt them at all, but he didn’t know how to get them there and make them stay. Jihoon just wanted to get rid of them, he would never admit it but he was worried that they would come in and kill them all. Soonyoung was taking the 5th even though that made no sense in the situation and Joshua told him that he wasn’t in an American courtroom. Soonyoung just shrugged and went back to eating his carrots which Seungcheol had no idea where he got them from. And Jeonghan and Joshua wanted to talk with them, see if they could convince them to stay. 

Jeonghan’s argument was that they looked no older than Wonwoo, Soonyoung, and Jihoon. He told everyone of them that they were just kids like the rest of them. They were on their own, and probably had no contact with their agency anymore and were more likely than not on the run. He said that they were probably scared out of their minds and had no constant stream of resources to help them survive. He told them all that they needed their help. Jihoon piped up and asked what they would do if they refused, Jeonghan just told him that they would leave them alone if they wanted them to, but he was going to help them if he could. Blame it on Jeonghan’s motherly instincts or whatever but he wasn’t going to just let two kids starve to death or worse on the streets of Seoul if he could help it. He knew how hard it was to group up, basically raising yourself with no parent figure around and thinking that it’s just you against the world. Jeonghan hated it, Suengcheol hated it, Soonyoung, Jihoon, and Wonwoo had it easier than they did but even they still had to do a lot of their rearing themselves. The only one with really loving parents were Sammy and Mingyu and Joshua. Mingyu left home to make sure that they all didn’t die of uncleanness. Joshua came to Seoul for school, and poor Sammy’s parents were taken away from him and he had run away from the orphanage that he was put in. Though that was another story for another time. 

In the end they sought out Jun and MingMing with the proposition of coming to join their crew. They were hesitant at first, but since Jun was the older of the two of them MingMing had left the decision up to him. It was easy for all of them to tell that the two boys were close with one another. He had told Seungcheol that he would go everywhere and anywhere that Jun would. It took a couple of hours of Jeonghan convincing them, but eventually they were able to get Jun to agree to come home with them. And that was where Jun has been ever since, happy smiling and terrorizing the younger kids. MingMing had hung around for a little bit, but one night they all went to bed and when they woke up the next morning he was nowhere in sight. They hadn’t heard from him for years, that is until now, since he was the one who shot Jun.

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All of their heads whipped up in the direction of the door when they heard it open. They all felt mixed emotions when they saw Joshua walk through the door. He was covered in blood, he most likely just came out of surgery. They knew that they had probably just finished working on Jun. He was here to tell and update them on any news about his condition. They all just hoped and prayed that it was good news. “Joshua..” Jeonghan said as he jumped out of Seugncheol’s lap and was the first one over to him. And all of them knew that he was worried since Jeonghan has a well known phobia of hospitals. He knows that they do good work and help a lot of people, but even that isn’t enough to stop him from having a panic attack if he has to go into one alone. Regardless everyone else jumped up from their own seats and rushed to gather around them. All of them were anxious and they just wanted to know the condition of their beloved friend. 

Once everyone was gathered around they all were looking at Joshua for answers. And they all hoped that he could give them good ones. “How… How is he..?” Seungcheol asked tentatively. He knew that everyone else in the room wanted to know but were too afraid of what the answer would be. Joshua took a few minutes before answering them. He looked around the room at the rest of the members who he has considered to be his second family, he would do anything for these people. He knew that this would be some of the hardest news that he would ever have to give them. “It was touch and go for a while there.” Joshua told them all. Everyone in the group let a shocked gasp. He could see the fear and the worry on all of their faces. “But, he’s alive.” He told them. “He’s not out of the woods yet though,” Joshua said. “It’ll be a rough night for him, and even then the recovery period after that is very intense and it’ll be hard on him.” He said. “And that’s just the physical part of his recovery.” No one had said anything. They all heard that Jun was alive and that he would survive the night more likely than not. It was a huge relief for them all, but there was still the recovery period ahead. Joshua had said that it would be hard on him and by adjacent the rest of them. But it didn't matter what they had to do if it meant that Jun would be okay in the end. 

“Can we see him?” Chan piped up from the back of the group. Everyone turned their heads to look at him. Chan was still wrapped up in Soonyoung’s arms and he was pressed up against Wonwoo’s side. He looked so small at that moment and it dawned on all of them again how young not only Chan, but also Hansol and Seungkwan were. It was a shame that Chan and Hansol had to witness this happening to their Hyung. And Seungkwan had to go in and mess around with his guts, trying his hardest to save his life. It was awful, but they all knew that if they didn't do what they did that night then Jun would have died. Joshua turning his attention back to Chan’s question shook his head. “You can, but not right now Channie, I’m sorry.” Joshua told him. “He’s stable for now at the moment, but it’s after visiting hours, and even though this was a serious situation they’ll only let a couple of people in the room beside me, Minnie, and Kwannie.” He explained to him. Chan nodded his head sullenly but didn’t say anything else on the matter. “Don’t worry Channie-ah.” Seungcheol told him. “You can come back and see Junnie later after you’ve had some sleep.” Chan nodded his head and scooted in closer to Soonyoung. “Thanks Babe.” Seungcheol told Joshua. He moved over and wrapped the other arm that he didn’t have around Jeonghan around Joshua. And that brought some comfort to the med student. It’s been a long and grueling night and that was even before Jun got shot and was brought in. Joshua hated the fact that he had to operate on his dongsaeng, but it had to be done and he wasn’t going to let Jun die on his watch.

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When Joshua had gone back to check on Jun, Seokmin and Seungkwan, he left all of the other 10 members left to decide what they were going to do next. Joshua was able to swing it to let at the very most 3 of them stay that weren’t the three medical students that already worked at the hospital. So all that they had to do was figure out who was staying and who was going to go home. Seungcheol looked at Jeonghan for confirmation, and his other lover nodded his head. And that meant that Jeonghan had volunteered to take the rest of them home. He knew that Jeonghan was beyond worried out of his mind about Jun, but he didn’t do too well with hospitals. So it was the smarter thing to let him be the one in charge of taking the rest of the kids. Seungcheol knew that he was going to stay to make sure that Jun was okay and that meant that they only needed two more people. “Okay.” Seungcheol told them. “We have it worked out somewhat.” He told the rest of them. “Hannie has volunteered to take the rest of you home, and I’m going to stay here to make sure Jun’s alright.” He told them. “So we just need two more who can stay.” Minghao was the first one to raise his hand. And any other time Seungcheol would have let him stay, but the kid was covered in blood, and he was a wreck, it would do more harm than good to let him stay. “Sorry HaoHao.” Seungcheol told him. “But you need to go home buddy, it’s been a long night for everyone, especially you.” He said. “But like Shua told Channie you can come back and see him tomorrow.” 

Minghao didn’t look too happy about it, but with a couple of squeezes to his shoulder from Mingyu and he didn’t say anything. He sighed and refused to make eye contact with the rest of the members. Hansol also volunteered to stay at the hospital with him. Even though Seungcheol wanted to send him home with the rest of them too, he had no reason to keep Vernon out so he let him stay. Wonwoo also volunteered to stay with them and that was it they had their three. He told Jeonghan to take the keys to all of their cars that they had taken, to make sure that none of them take the same route home and to drive around a little bit before going back to their place to make sure that they weren’t followed. He then told Soonyoung and Jihoon to go and sweep the apartment for any type of bugs and the rest of the members as they stripped to take showers for any kind of trackers on them. They all nodded their heads and went to go gather everyone up to go home. Joshua came back in to see them all off and Jeonghan gave both of them a kiss before leaving to catch up with the rest of the kids. Joshua then guided the three of them back to where they were keeping Jun to make sure that they were okay. 

It took them about 10 minutes to get to Jun’s room. And even though they all knew that it wasn’t going to be pretty, they still weren’t prepared in the slightest for the sight that they saw their friend in. He looked so small, and that was bad considering that Jun was a little taller than Wonwoo and almost as tall as Mingyu, and he was a giant. So to see him look so tiny, small and fragile was very troubling for them all. And looking over at Hansol, he could tell that the younger didn't like what he was seeing. Even though he doesn’t show it half the time, Hansol cares very deeply for the rest of the members in the group. He only has the one dongsaeng that he looks after 24/7 since the other two left, but it could be argued that he’s even more protective of the Hyungs than anyone else. Seungcheol wrapped an arm around him and led him into the room and over to the little cot-like bed that Joshua was able to find and get someone to bring to the room. He looked over his shoulder to see Wonwoo standing next to the bed, talking with Seokmin and Seungkwan. Man this was messed up. 

He was not going to lie, unless Jeonghan asked him this specifically, he jumped a little when Joshua placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry.” He told him quietly. “It’s okay, how are you holding up?” Seungcheol asked him quietly before kissing him on the lips. Joshua didn’t hesitate to kiss back but sighed when they pulled apart from each other. “I should be the one asking you that question.” Joshua told him. “You’re one of the ones who found him like that.” He told him motioning over to where Jun was laying in the hospital bed. Seungcheol hated looking over at one of his younger brothers in that bed, hooked up to all of those tubes and machines to survive. “I’m fine.” Seungcheol told him. “It’s everyone else that I’m worried about.” Joshua hummed in response. “ I know, but I’m still worried about you Seunghceol.” Joshua told him. “ I know, but trust me I’m okay babe.” Seungcheol told him. He turned his attention back to the rest of his dongsaengs in the room. He knew that they were able to fix the rooms to house three of them and Jun, but he didn’t know where the med students were going to sleep. “Where are you guys going to sleep?” Seungcheol asked them. “They have rooms and stuff for us to sleep in here.” Joshua told him. “We’re going to be in and out of the room throughout the night though.” He told him, but he back tracked when Seungcheol gave him a look. “But we are going to sleep tonight, don’t worry Cheol.” He told him. “Now go to bed.” Joshua told him as he threw all the blankest at him. Seungcheol laughed and moved to round up all of them to get some sleep, hopefully.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

They followed Seungcheol’s order to a perfect T. It did end up taking them about another hour to get them all safe and sound at home than it normally did when they would leave the hospital. Since there were only 6 of them left and they had two cars they decided to divide themselves into pairs of 3. So Jeonghan took Chan and Soonyoung with him in one car, while Mingyu, Minghao and Jihoon took the other car. They all went in seperate directions and drove around a little bit to make sure that they weren’t being followed. When they finally got back, Jeonghan had sent Soonyoung and Chan up to their floor to go ahead and start checking for bugs and other stuff, while he waited in their building's lobby to make sure that Jihoon, Minghao, and Minguy got in okay. Their building didn’t have a 24 hour security guard or doorman anymore, so Jeonghan didn’t want them to walk into the building alone. Not that long after Jeonghan had sent Soonyoung and Chan up, the other three came into the lobby. Jihoon came in first and he told him about sending Chan and Soonyoung up. Jihoon nodded his head and went up to help them check out their apartment. And that meant that Jeonghan could turn his attention back to the two 97-liners. He noticed that Minghao was wearing Mingyu’s sweatshirt that he always kept in the car for emergencies. It was probably so that there would be no security camera footage of Minghao walking in covered in blood. When he was sure that they were okay the three of them went up to their apartment. 

By the time that they had gotten up there, the other three were almost done with sweeping the place for bugs or cameras. So it didn’t take them that much longer to get the place checked out. And as far as they were concerned they were bug free or whatever was planted was too high tech for them to detect yet. But that was a possibility that they didn’t want to think about at the moment. And since there were two and a half bathrooms in the apartment they decided to send two in at a time to get cleaned up. Jeonghan made the executive decision to send Minghao and Chan in first. He told the both of them that they could pick where they wanted to go and were more than welcome to use the one in his room. He sent Mingyu and Soonyoung to help them out since he didn’t want anyone alone at the moment. When the four of them had disappeared around back Jeonghan went to triple check that all of the doors and windows were locked and the security system was turned on and armed. He then went into the office where Jihoon was and to see what he was up to and pulled out his phone to check in with Seungcheol. He had texted the group chat that he had with both of his lovers when they had first gotten home and was checking in with them periodically. 

**_Hannie:_ ** **_We just finished searching the apartment, we haven’t found anything, and I sent the kids to go clean up and make sure that they haven’t been bugged. I’m with Jihoon in the office and he’s running another search from his computer. I turned on the system and made sure everything was locked up tight. How are you guys holding up?_ **

_Cheol: We’re okay. Jun’s still out cold, but Shua can give you the full medical run down. I put Hansol to sleep in the cot they brought in, he’s currently asleep in my lap at the moment. Wonwoo’s sitting in one of the chairs that he pulled up to Jun's bed, and he looks half asleep. Shua has the rest of the kids._

**Shua: I sent Minnie and Kwannie to bed, in one of the rooms that they have set aside for the doctors to sleep over at. I’m doing one last check on everyone to make sure that they’re okay before I turn in myself. Text me or call if any of you need anything. I love you two.**

**_Hannie:_ ** **_Love you too Shua and Cheollie! , <3_ **

_Cheol: Love you guys too, goodnight, I have first watch and I’ll yell if we need anything! <3 _

Jeonghan sighed to himself again as he dropped his phone onto the coffee table in the office and brought his hands up to rub at his face. He really needed to sleep, or to drink, maybe both, he wasn’t really sure at the moment, but both of them sounded good. He then turned his attention back to Jihoon to see how he was doing. “How’s it going Jihoon-ah?” Jeonghan asked him. Jihoon hadn’t said anything since he’d come into the office. He knew that he was stressed out and freaking out about Jun and was using it as an excuse to get lost in his work and tune out the rest of the world. But he needed to make sure that Jihoon was okay and that there wasn’t a chance of all of them getting killed in their sleep tonight. Jihoon grunted at him before he answered him properly. “I can’t find anything that could put us in danger at the moment.” Jihoon told him. “So that means that we’re okay for the time being.” He said. Jeonghan nodded his head, and hummed in acknowledgement. At this point Jeonghan was exhausted, he hasn’t really slept in about 3 days maybe? He wasn’t sure, but his insomnia has been kicking his ass again. Nothing he’s done has been able to help him. He even tried taking melatonin again to see if that would work or if he would have to get Irene to give him another prescription for sleeping pills. But his track record with melatonin wasn’t a good one, since almost every time he takes it he ends up puking his guts up. And that only left the pills as his last option. Which he really didn’t want to do after what happened last time. He was hoping that after all of the excitement of tonight that he would just clock out. But with his luck, the more likely chance would be that he wouldn’t be able to sleep until Jun came home. God, it’s been a long night. _  
_

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After about another 2 hours Jeonghan was finally able to go to bed. After Mingyu, Minghoa, Soonyoung, and Chan were all cleaned up and checked out to make sure there weren’t any trackers or bugs, he forced Jihoon into the shower. Once he had deemed the younger device free, he stalked off to hopefully go to bed, but probably not, and Jeonghan really wasn’t in the mood to fight with him tonight. So after showering himself, having Soonyoung come in and check him real quick, he threw on a mixture of Seungcheol and Joshua’s clothes. (Hey, at least he put on his own underwear, he thinks.) And after cleaning up the bedroom he crashed face first on the bed. Groaning, he rolled over so that he was laying down on his back. He felt like crap, he was nauseous, bloated, he had a migraine, and he was so exhausted. He’d been feeling run down for a couple of days, but he was just brushing it off as stress or he was getting sick again. If he didn’t feel any better in the morning he was going to get checked out when they went to visit Jun at the hospital in a couple of hours. 

Eventually he gave up laying on top of the covers and climbed underneath them to try and sleep. He picked up his phone to check the time, and saw that it was a little after 4 in the morning. Great, he’d be lucky if he got 3 hours before he’d have to get them all up to go to the hospital. Seungcheol had told them to sleep in for as long as they could and rest, but they had all come to an agreement when they got home that they wanted to be in the room as soon as they could. Putting the phone down and rolling over, Jeonghan curled up on himself hoping that he would be able to get some sleep. Seungcheol and Joshua would kill him if they realized how long it’s been since he’s slept properly. And he did try his hardest to get some sleep he really did, but that didn’t go as planned. He laid down in bed for maybe 20 minutes before he felt his stomach roll. Jeonghan groaned to himself and tried to ride out the wave of nausea that had suddenly hit him. Sadly that didn’t work, and in the next five minutes Jeonghan had leaped out of the bed and raced into their bathroom. He then spent the next what felt like an hour throwing up stomach acid, since he hadn’t eaten anything all day. He felt horrible, and by the time that he was able to pull himself back to bed, it was almost 7 AM. ‘Shit.’ Jeonghan thought to himself, he was absolutely dead and Seungcheol and Joshua were going to have his head. But that was life. 

Finally giving up on getting any sleep that night, Jeonghan decided that he might as well just go ahead and get up for the day. He felt like a complete and utter zombie, he knew that the only way that he could actually try and fool his two lovers was if he drank his body weight in coffee, but just the thought of consuming it made him gag again. So he straightened out his clothes, or well the clothes that he had found, and pulled his hair back. Even though he had gotten mad at it a couple of months back and had cut off some of it. His hair was shorter than before but he was still able to pull it back and up for the most part. He was so tired, but he was also very worried about Jun. That was probably the reason that he was up all night and started throwing up. His nerves were shot at this point and he was so anxious that he could probably go and run 10 kms, and still not be tired. He wrapped his arms around himself and picked up his phone and shuffled out into the hallway. He made his way down and out into the living area of the apartment, and then went to the kitchen. He walked in and saw that no one was up yet and just sat down at the island bar stool and put his head down in his arms. And before he knew it he had fallen back asleep. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hyung?” Jeonghan felt something shake his shoulder but he was way too out of it to notice. “Jeonghan-Hyung…” He thought that he heard someone call his name but the voice sounded so far away that he couldn’t recognize it. But Jeonghan was just so tired that he could hardly keep his eyes open, all that he wanted to do was sleep. “JEONGHAN-HYUNG!” Jeonghan jumped up and almost fell off of the stool at the loud call of his name. Luckily a pair of arms was able to catch him before he could hit the ground. Jeonghan swore that his heart stopped beating for a second there. And once he was able to get it going again it was trying to beat out of his chest. What he said about being a zombie earlier, forget it. He was awake and alert now. Placing a hand over his heart, Jeonghan looked around to see where he was and who he was with. Chan and Mingyu were standing right in front of him, with Minghao and Jihoon standing off to the side. He looked up and saw that Soonyoung was the one who had caught him. Everyone must have noticed how startled he was, and it showed on their faces.

“Hyung, are you alright?” Mingyu asked him softly. Jeonghan took a deep breath to try and slow his heart rate down. “Yeah, yeah I’m okay Gyu-ah, you guys just startled me.”Jeonghan told them through shaky breaths. “Are you sure about that Hyung?” Minghao asked him. And Jeonghan is pretty sure that was the first thing that he said to someone that wasn’t Mingyu since last night. Jeonghan nodded his head at him. “Yeah, I’m fine.” he told them I’m just tired, guess I fell asleep.” he told him with a little laugh. “Hyung, we found you asleep here.” Chan told him. “How long have you been up?” He asked him. Jeonghan took a few minutes to think it over and he knew that the longer he took to answer the more worried that they became over him. “I don’t know.” He confessed to them all honestly. “What time is it?” He asked them. “It’s 11:00 AM.” Soonyoung told them. ‘Shit.’ He was supposed to wake them up at 8AM and take them to the hospital to see Jun. Seungcheol was so going to kill him. They must have seen the look of pure and utter panic on his face and stepped in to try and calm him down. “Hyung it’s okay.” Jihoon told him. “Did you even sleep last night?” He asked him. And that seemed to snap Jeonghan out of his head and he was able to get out of Soonyoung’s grasp and back up onto the bar stool. “I slept a little bit.” He told them. And he could just feel all of them giving him looks. “And don’t go giving me those looks, I was up all night worrying about Junnie.” He told them. But hey, he wasn’t completely lying to them. He was up a good chunk of the night worrying about Jun.Though the majority was him puking his guts up, but they didn’t need to know that. And he could tell that by the looks he was getting, they didn’t fully believe him, but he could work with that. 

“I’m fine.” He told them all again. “Now quit worrying, we were supposed to meet everyone else at the hospital 3 hours ago!” He told them. He got up to start trying to corral them, but as soon as he stood up the world decided to tip on its axis around him. And yet again he would have ended up face planting on the ground had it not been for Soonyoung. “Woah!” Soonyoung said as he caught him. “Hyung?! Are you alright?!” He asked him. Jeonghan just groaned and brought up a hand to rub at his temples. Okay, maybe he should eat something, the last time that he felt like this was when he was 17,...Oh no. “Hyung, are you alright?” Chan asked him in a small voice. And that shocked Jeonghan back to reality. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine don’t worry, just stood up too fast.” He told him. “Thanks Soonie.” He told him as he got up with help from the thief. Everyone was looking at him like he was going to faint. It was nice and all but he didn’t need all of the attention to be stuck on him. “It’s time to get going guys.” Jeonghan said as he began to putter around the room.”Have you guys eaten yet?” He asked them. All of them shook their heads. “Alright, well normally I wouldn’t do this, but we’re running super late already.” Jeonghan told them. “Grab something and go before Seunghceol has all of our heads.” He told them as he went to go and grab his stuff. He was hit with another dizzy spell as he went to his room to get his stuff, and some changes of clothes for Seungcheol and Joshua. That was when he decided that he was going to let Chan drive. God, he really hopes that he isn’t what he thinks he is. 

It took them a total of about 15 minutes to get everyone moving and in the cars to get to the hospital. They ended up going in the same pairs as they did when they left the hospital the night before. Except this time Chan was the one driving instead of Jeonghan. He knew that he hadn’t slept enough to be able to get behind the wheel of the car without causing some sort of wreck. He was going to put his dongsaeng’s life in danger because of it. And they didn’t need any more of their members in the hospital. They were able to grab some random crap that they found lying around that was edible and ate it on the way to the hospital. Jeonghan didn’t eat anything, he got motion sickness really bad, and even though he sat in the front seat, he knew that regardless of whether he was already nauseous to begin with or not if he ate something he’d puke all the way to the hospital. He didn’t miss the questioning looks that Chan and Soonyoung gave him, but he chose to ignore it instead focusing his attention on messaging Seungcheol and telling him that they were on their way there and not to worry. All while at the same time trying not to throw up again. Today was going to be crap, he could feel it in his bones.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Mingyu knew as soon as he heard Minghao yell for help over the comms that something was wrong. And he was proven right when they went to go and find them to see Minghao standing over Jun’s body trying to stop him from bleeding out to death from a gunshot wound. Not how he envisioned spending this night and seeing how this mission played out in his head. Though Seungcheol had taught them all not to expect the outcome that they had planned out. Anything and everything can and will go wrong on a mission most of the time, well, Seugncheol was proven right again. Luckily they were able to get the bleeding to stop once Seungkwan got there and got Jun stable enough to move. Seungcheol and Wonwoo worked to get Jun off the floor and out of the building with Seungkwan following on their heels. Mingyu was put in charge of calling Seokmin since Jeonghan was supposed to call Joshua, informing them of what happened and that they were on their way. He was also inadvertently in charge of getting Minghao out of there and into the car, since he just seemed to be sitting there and staring out at nothing. It worried Mingyu a lot. 

From the time that they left the job until they reached the hospital, Minghao hadn’t said a word. He just sat in the front seat as Mingyu drove them to the hospital. They had taken all three of their cars to the job, so Mingyu was driving one, Chan one and Jeonghan the other. They didn’t have Jun in the car with them. Jeonghan and Hansol had taken one of the cars and had it pulled around to the back entrance that they used to get out of the building. Seugncheol shoved Wonwoo, and Seungkwan in with Jun and sent them on their way. It was a good thing that he went with Jeonghan out of all of the members only Seungcheol, Jeonghan, Mingyu, Minghao and Chan could drive and out of the 5 of them Jeonghan and Minghoa were the only ones with a lead foot. And since Minghao was in no condition to drive Jeonghan it was. Seungcheol had jumped in the car with Chan and that had left Mingyu and Minghao alone together. The Chinese thief hadn’t said a word to him or anything. He just sat there and stared out of the window as they raced down the road to the hospital. But taking careful glances over at him, Mingyu could tell that he was crying, but he didn’t say anything as not to make it worse than it already was. 

When everyone had gathered themselves into the waiting room, the two of them ended up sitting next to each other. And they waited and waited. When they had first brought Jun in, Joshua had everything ready for him to go straight to surgery. He had yelled that it would be awhile as he and Seokmin dragged him back to get medical attention with Seungkwan hot on their heels. He had insisted on scrubbing in to help them and he wasn;t taking no for an answer. Minghao still hadn’t said anything and they had known each other long enough to know to just leave him alone until he was ready to talk about things. But Mingyu really wanted to get him to change his clothes. Minghao was still covered in blood and he was more worried about how looking at your Hyung’s blood on your clothes and skin could damage your psyche than if he could still get it out of his clothes. But with the way that Minghao was perfecting his thousand yard stare he knew that it was better not to push him or anything. But just to reiterate what has already been said, he was very concerned about his best friend. He prayed that Jun would make it out of this alive or else Minghao would go off the deep end, and they really didn’t need that. 

Eventually Joshua had come out and told them that Jun was stable and he would more likely than not make it through the night. Mingyu saw Minghao just melt with relief, he swears that if Minghao wasn’t sitting down he would have just collapsed and melted into the floor. After that Seungcheol had sent them on their way home with instructions to be careful and to do this and that to make sure that they weren’t followed. Some had stayed back at the hospital to keep watch, while Jeonghan had been in charge of taking them all home. Minghao still hadn’t said anything, and Mingyu was getting a little bit concerned. It wasn’t until they were all washed up and getting ready for bed when it happened. Mingyu had stepped back into the room after cleaning up in the bathroom and spotted Minghao sitting curled up on the bed just staring at the wall. Mingyu had walked over and sat down next to him and that was when the dam broke. Minghao had spent basically the whole night crying himself to sleep. Mingyu sat next to him and held him until his body had given out and his best friend had cried himself to sleep. It was awful and he hoped that they would never have to go through a thing like that again. But with tier luck.. Who knows.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Joshua sighed to himself as he sat down in one of the rooms set up in the hospital for the staff to sleep over at. He was exhausted, so, so exhausted. He was now in the beginning of working a triple shift at the hospital. He had been stuck doing a double since one of the other students had called in sick. So, since he couldn’t tell his advisor no, he went and worked a double. He was just getting ready to clock out with Seomin when they got the call. Joshua really thought that he was going to faint there for a second, and Seokmin looked like he was going to vomit. Neither of them had expected their night to go out like this. Luckily Seungkwan was with them that night and he was able to stop the bleeding and get him stable enough to get him to the hospital. Joshua had gone to go find Solar and gave her a heads up, she went to go and get everything ready for when they got there. Not even 10 minutes after they got the call, the rest of their group was spilling into the ER. Joshua knew that Jeonghan ws driving since Jun got here so fast. (Minghao would have shaved Hannie’s time in half with how fast he could drive.) They pulled Jun back to the OR and got to work after going through triage. 

Seungkwan had scrubbed in on the surgery so that they could have more hands on deck who knew what was going on. It took them a little over two hours to get everything ready, but Jun didn’t die on the table which was a huge relief to them all. Even though he pulled through, he still had a hard road ahead of him. Recovery wouldn’t be easy for Jun, but it's going to end up being something that they all would have to deal with, and that didn’t even include all of the mental health issues that this would cause. But he was more than happy to go out and tell all of them the good news. After rejoicing in the fact that Jun was more likely than not going to survive and be okay in the end. Joshua was surprised himself the shooter had barely missed hitting straight through his heart. Jun was lucky, he was very lucky that MingMing missed. Though having once known the other Chinese boy himself, he knew that MingMing didn’t miss, so something wasn’t right about this. He didn’t want to scare anyone though so he had chosen to speak to Seungcheol and Jeonghan about when all three of them would be present at the hospital with him. Even though Seungcheol’s their leader, all three of them make the big decisions together, then the bigger ones with Soonyoung and Jihoon included and then the biggest ones with all of the members themselves. But baby steps here people. 

But this was a problem for tomorrow’s Joshua to deal with. Right now he had to get Seungkwan and Seokmin to actually get some sleep so that they could be semi-functional tomorrow when they’ll try to plan out what they’re going to do next and what needs to happen. One of their own got hurt tonight, and that’s not going to fly with any of them. And it was Jun, not that they’re favoriting Jun over the others, it’s just that even though he’s a trained killer, Junhui is one of the most kindest, sweetest and gentle people that you’ll ever meet in your life. He’s the team's sweetheart and no one is going to get away with this, especially someone that used to be one of them. But he’s about ready to pass out where he’s standing so he decided to check in with Jeonghan and Seungcheol one last time over text to make sure everyone’s alright before going to sleep.

******_Hannie: We just finished searching the apartment, we haven’t found anything, and I sent the kids to go clean up and make sure that they haven’t been bugged. I’m with Jihoon in the office and he’s running another search from his computer. I turned on the system and made sure everything was locked up tight. How are you guys holding up?_ **

_Cheol: We’re okay. Jun’s still out cold, but Shua can give you the full medical run down. I put Hansol to sleep in the cot they brought in, he’s currently asleep in my lap at the moment. Wonwoo’s sitting in one of the chairs that he pulled up to Jun's bed, and he looks half asleep. Shua has the rest of the kids._

**Shua: I sent Minnie and Kwannie to bed, in one of the rooms that they have set aside for the doctors to sleep over at. I’m doing one last check on everyone to make sure that they’re okay before I turn in myself. Text me or call if any of you need anything. I love you two.**

**_Hannie: Love you too Shua and Cheollie! , <3_ **

_Cheol: Love you guys too, goodnight, I have first watch and I’ll yell if we need anything! <3_

With the piece of mind knowing that the ones that he loves are currently okay, Joshua easily drifted off to sleep. It was one of the worst nights of sleep that he’s ever had in his life, but his body was recharged somewhat after it. He knew that whatever they just got themselves into this time is way different than what they have done before. He just hopes and prays that they haven’t inadvertently bitten off way more than they can hew.

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Surprisingly, Seungcheol couldn't sleep. You would think that after the very long and exciting day that’s head had so far he would be conked out by now. But no, watching his friend get shot and almost bleed out to death in his arms didn’t do it. He can tell that it’s taken a toll on the rest of his members. He turned his attention to the sleeping Hansol that he had in his lap. He’s still not a hundred percent sure how that happened though, one minute Hansol was rambling on about some video he wanted to show Jun when he woke up and the next he was out like a light. The kid’s been out for about an hour now, if not more, and Seungcheol just decided to let him sleep, it had been a long day for everyone. Then he turned his attention to Wonwoo, he was sitting slumped back in the chair that he had pulled up to Jun’s bed so that they could be closed together. He wasn’t sure if Wonwoo was asleep or not but he wasn’t going to risk waking him up just to see so he left him alone. Finally he turned his attention to Jun, who was still out cold in the bed. Seungkwan had said that they had to heavily sedate him and the painkillers that they gave him are known for knocking the patient out for long periods of time. So more likely than not, they’ll be lucky if Jun’s awake and coherent by tomorrow evening. So it’s just him awake, all of their medics went to get some rest in another room, and he had Jeonghan take all the rest of the kids home to rest. Jeonghan had told them before he left that he would have them here as soon as visiting hours started. But Suengcheol knows that with the excitement from today and the fact that Jeonghan hadn’t slept for the past 3 days, he knew that it would be a long shot, but he didn’t want to get into it with Jeonghan so he just let it go. They had more important things to worry about at the moment. 

To try and entertain himself some he decided to go and look through his phone. He decided to go and look through the last conversations that he had with his boyfriends.

**_Hannie: We just finished searching the apartment, we haven’t found anything, and I sent the kids to go clean up and make sure that they haven’t been bugged. I’m with Jihoon in the office and he’s running another search from his computer. I turned on the system and made sure everything was locked up tight. How are you guys holding up?_ **

_Cheol: We’re okay. Jun’s still out cold, but Shua can give you the full medical run down. I put Hansol to sleep in the cot they brought in, he’s currently asleep in my lap at the moment. Wonwoo’s sitting in one of the chairs that he pulled up to Jun's bed, and he looks half asleep. Shua has the rest of the kids._

**Shua: I sent Minnie and Kwannie to bed, in one of the rooms that they have set aside for the doctors to sleep over at. I’m doing one last check on everyone to make sure that they’re okay before I turn in myself. Text me or call if any of you need anything. I love you two.**

**_Hannie: Love you too Shua and Cheollie! , <3_ **

_Cheol: Love you guys too, goodnight, I have first watch and I’ll yell if we need anything! <3_

A small smile found its way onto the young leader’s face. He was whipped, he would never admit it out loud but he was totally and completely whipped for those twos. He didn’t know what he would do without either one of them. What could he say, he was a whipped man in love. 

Seungcheol’s attention was diverted when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. He looked up from his phone to see a black blur fly past the door. At a first glance he didn’t think anything of it, he just thought that whoever had gone by just had the wrong room. And then he started thinking about the small glimpse of the blur’s face. He just started thinking about it and then it dawned on him. He had to go out and check to make sure that he wasn’t going crazy. Seungcheol carefully slipped out from underneath Hansol. He grabbed his phone from where it had fallen on the floor, and went over to wake up Wonwoo. It wasn’t that hard, so if he was asleep, it wasn’t that deep yet. Wonwoo asked him softly what was wrong so as to not wake up the others. He lied and told Wonwoo that he was going to use the bathroom and go and check up on the others that were still at the hospital. Wonwoo nodded and told him that he would keep an eye on Jun and Hansol while he was gone. Seungcheol nodded his head in thanks and quietly slipped from the room. Trying to follow the path of the intruder the way that Seungcheol thinks he saw him, he was trying to pull up Joshua’s contact information, just in case he needed him. If it was who he thinks it was then that means that this probably isn’t going to end well. And he knew that it would be best to give Shua a heads up so that he doesn’t get him Seokmin and Seungkwan fired. 

He spent about 20 minutes going down the poorly lit corridor of the hospital. He had a bad feeling in his gut, but he knew that it was too late to turn back now. He had to go and figure out if what he saw was actually a threat to him and his family or if he was just going crazy. Seungcheol walked farther and farther down the hallway, so far he couldn’t find anyone else in this part of the hospital. Though he vaguely remembers Joshua that they were remodeling part of the hospital to make it better equipped to treat patients. So that explained why there was or why there was supposed to be no one else in this part of the hospital. But Seungcheol could see if or what it was at the moment. A perfect way to slip in and out of the hospital to do whatever without anyone knowing you were there until it was too late.Just when he thought he was going crazy, he saw someone up ahead of him duck into an empty room. Now, Seungcheol was pretty sure that this was a trap, but he just had to go and check it out. He walked into the room and saw that there was nobody there. He looked around and saw that there was no one there. All that was there was an open window. And they were on the 12th floor. Now, there’s something really wrong with this picture here. He just has to figure out what, but first he had to go and make sure that the kids were okay.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger!!!! Now, another question, what do you think is wrong with Jeonghan?   
> -N.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are on the verge of picking up speed now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! Hope that you all enjoy and our staying safe with one another. Don't know when the next one will come out though.  
> Have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 12

Jihoon was nervous, he was nervous and he was mad that he was nervous. Normally, Jihoon gives off that tough guy act, he's indifferent to a lot of the stuff that goes on around him. He's cool, calm(for the most part), and collective. He doesn't get nervous about anything that they've done ever since they started this little group. And yes, he knows that this time it's way different than anything that they've been put through before.They've had members hurt before on jobs and stuff, but never this serious and it's almost always Seungcheol. On more than one occasion Jeonghan and Joshua have threatened to wrap the man up in bubble wrap to keep him from trying to do something stupid. It seems to have the opposite effect on him though, and Jihoon is still confused about how that happens, but he's gotten to the point that he really doesn't question anything that the 3 eldest in the group do anymore. So that just leaves him to be completely freaked out about all of this. 

Even though Joshua had told them all last night that Jun was stable and that he would more likely than not make it through the night Jihoon was still worried that he wouldn't. He sat in the back of the car behind Minghao and Mingyu as the three of them drove to the hospital. They were going to visit Jun, see how he was, if he was awake and switch places with all of the ones who had stayed over the night before. But Jihoon could still feel this sinking feeling in the back of his brain, mocking him. He was still completely terrified that something bad had happened to Jun while they were away. One of his greatest fears was that MingMing would have tried to sneak into the hospital to finish the job. But he wouldn't do that with all of them there would he? Though, he supposed that if MingMing really wanted them all dead it would be the perfect opportunity to do it. He could have taken out not only Jun, but Wonwoo, Seungcheol, Hansol and the all of their medical team. But he knows that he's worrying for nothing, because Seungcheol and Joshua wouldn't have let that happen to them right? Right? He really wished it was Minghao behind the wheel right now, Mingyu was driving too slow for this situation. They needed to get to the hospital like yesterday. He knew that if Minghao was driving they would have been there 20 minutes ago. Though it probably wasn't a good idea to let Minghao drive after what happened last night. And he would have gone with Jeonghan, but he wouldn't have left his dongsaengs in the dust, and it wasn't safe for him to drive either. Jihoon was pretty sure that their team's resident grifter hadn't slept in almost a week so having him drive probably wasn't a good idea either at the moment. But damn, Mingyu needed to put some pedal to the metal or he was going to get his guitar out again. 

Finally, the three of them had pulled into the hospital's parking lot. Jihoon and Minghao had already jumped out of the car and were racing inside before Mingyu could tell them that he was going to let them out and go park the car. He was lucky that they remembered to shut the car doors on their way out. He shook his head to himself and went to go and park the car. As he was moving forward, he saw that Chan had the same idea that he did. Though his passengers were slower and more calm about exiting their vehicle. He watched through the rear view mirror as Soonyoung got out of the back and went to help get Jeonghan out of the front seat. And he didn't mean this to sound mean at all, but Jeonghan looked awful. It was blatantly obvious, at least it was to Mingyu, that Jeonghan hadn't slept the night beforehand. And he also knew that Jeonghan hadn't really been sleeping that well teh past few nights either. He wasn't really sure how Jeonghan was able to stay up right at the moment let alone function enough to drag them all out of the house and get them to the hospital to see Jun. He was just thankful that his Hyung had enough common sense left in his head to not drive and let Chan take over so they wouldn't wreck on the way over here. Mingyu had a feeling that this was going to be an even longer day than yesterday. 

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In all honesty Jeonghan couldn't really tell you how he got from their apartment to the hospital. The last thing that he concretely remembers is telling everyone to grab their stuff along with something to eat before trying to herd them all to a car. The next thing that he knows is that Soonyoung is helping him out of the car and taking him inside while Chan and Mingyu go to park. He can vaguely register him saying that they lost Minghao and Jihoon about 5 minutes ago. And normally Jeonghan would be a whole lot more worried about the two of them than he is now, especially with the fact that there might be an assassin out there trying to get rid of them all and no one is safe without more than two people with each other. But he's so tired at the moment his exhaustion is making it very hard for his brain to work the right way so that he can be worried. One of the things that he can really register in his tired mind is that if Soonyoung doesn't find some place for him to sit down soon, he's going to fall down, and he's not sure if his dongsaeng can keep both of them from face planting this time. It was going to be a long day. 

He was brought out of his very sleep depvirbated thoughts when he realized that Soonyoung was trying to talk to him. "Hmm.."Jeonghan hummed. "Sorry, Soonie, I wasn't paying attention, what were you saying?" he asked him. "I asked if you wanted to go ahead and see if the others are in Junie's room or if you wanted to stay here and wait for Gyu and Channie?" He repeated for them. And even though Jeonghan was about 30 seconds or less from passing out at this point and really needed to sit down, he was too worried to go off and leave Mingyu and Chan alone. Jeonghan shook his head. "No, um let's wait for them then we can go up okay?" Jeonghan said. Soonyoung nodded his head, and silently motioned over towards the chairs in the lobby of the hospital. Jeonghan had to hold back his sigh of relief at his dongsaeng's observation skills. Soonyoung was able to get them over to the little row of chairs to sit down without any major incidents. Jeonghan just about melted int the floor when he sat down and it took a whole lot of will power to get his eyes to stay open long enough to see Mingyu and Chan walk through the sliding double doors of the hospital. Once those two were in the group of 4 made their way to the elevator to take it up to Jun's room. 

Jeonghan wasn't really sure if he had fallen asleep or passed out leaning up against the wall of the elevator, but the next thing that he knew was that the doors were opening on Jun's floor, and Sooyoung was dragging him out. Another thing that he knows for certain is that had it not been for Soonyoung and Chan holding him up he probably would have gone down on the floor. Before he knew it Mingyu was knocking, and opening the door to Jun's room and everyone went in. Jeonghan turned his attention to the body that was laying in the bed, it seemed that Jun was still asleep, but he looked at the monitors and it seemed like he was doing okay, but he wasn't a doctor so he didn't know. And everyone was gathered around them while they were watching Joshua, Seokmin and Seungkwan do their thing. He was so out of it that he didn't notice Seungcheol breaking away from their group and coming over to them. He nodded at Soonyoung and Chan to go over to Jun while he had Jeonghan. He only felt like he was going to fall for a second before Seungcheol's arms wrapped around him to keep him up. Jeonghan jumped a little but he didn't cause enough of a ruckus to draw attention to himself. It took him a minute or two to realize that it was one of his boyfriends who was holding onto him. "You didn't sleep." Was all that he whispered into his ear. And with his low and how smooth his voice sounded it sent shivers down Jeonghan's spine. God, he loved this man, and the other one over there getting ready to toss one of those big machines out of the window. Joshua didn't have a lot of patience for tech when he was sleep deprived. "Sorry we're late." Was all Jeonghan was able to get out. 

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Seungcheol was able to get Jeonghan across the room and to the cot that he and Hansol had slept in last night without any issues for the most part. More than once Jeonghan's legs had tried to give out on him, but Seungcheol kept a steady hold on him and was able to gethim on the cot without him passing out on them all. Once they got him on the cot, Seungcheol took a seat down beside him. Jeonghan just melted into his boyfriend's side. He rested his head on the leader's shoulder and closed his eyes. He took in a deep breath and let it out before turning his attention back to the rest of his members. "How's he doing?" Jeonghan asked softly. "He's okay, SHua says he's doing better than he was last night." Seungcheol told him. " he still hasn't woken up yet though, Dokyeom says that with the strength of the painkillers that they gave him, he should wake up today or early tomorrow at the latest." He told him. Jeonghan nodded his head in agreement, and closed his eyes again. "How did things go last night with you?" Seungcheol asked him. "It was okay, or as okay as things can be in this situation." Jeonghan told him. "As you know from the texts we couldn't find any bugs or anything, so I made the kids clean up." He said. "Channie went with Soonie, Gyu with HaoHao, and Hoonie went into the office." He sighed. "Other than that things were okay, except for us being late." 

"That's nice, but that's not what I meant." Seungcheol told him. Jeonghan opened his eyes and looked at his boyfriend. "What?" He asked Seugncheol quitely. "I mean, how did things go for you last night." Seungcheol clarified for him. "Hannie, you look like death, and you can barely keep your eyes open." Seungcheol told him "Angel you didn't sleep last night did you." It was more of a statement and less of a question. Jeonghan just gave up and shook his head. "I got about maybe 2 hours or so." He admitted quietly, and he chose to ignore the look that Seungcheol was giving him. "I'm okay though, it's nothing that I can't handle." He said. Seunghceol sighed and brought Jeonghan closer to him. "Hannie, you could barely stand up, let alone walk, if it hadn't been for me Soonyoung and Chan, you would have collapsed onto the ground." He told him. "Now, tell me what's wrong." Seugncheol told him. 

Jeonghan huffed a lock of hair out of his face that had fallen out of his ponytail. He knew that there was no way for him to get out of this, so he might as well just get it over with and tell Seungcheol the truth, and hope that Joshua isn't in ear-shot. "Fine." He told him. "I have a migraine and I'm extremely nauseous, and I haven't eaten anything today." Jeonghan told him. "Happy now?" He asked him. "That you told me the truth yes." Seunghceol said. "The fact that you're probably getting sick again, no." "Smartass." Joenghan called him as he followed his head on Seungcheol's shoulder. "Have you thrown up any?" Seungcheol asked him. And when Jeonghan didn't answer he knew that he did in fact throw up at some point in the last 24 hours at least. "Do you feel like you're going to throw up again?" He asked him. Jeonghan just shrugged in response. And Seungcheol was really resisiting the urge to bang his head up against the wall. Oh, why did he fall in love with two people way more stubborn than him? That's an answer that he'll probably never get. 

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Once Joshua was done with checking over Jun's vitals and monitors, he turned his attention back to the rest of his family present. Everyone was huddled around Jun's bed, waiting for anything. Joshua knew that they were all consumed with worry at the moment for the condition of their friend. Even though Seungcheol had sent some of them home for the evening so that they could get some rest, he knew that almost none of them had slept. Part of the reason that he knew that was that he didn't sleep, and he heard Seungkwan tossing and turning all night, while Seokmin kept asking if he was awake or not. And when he first walked into the room to check on Jun that morning, he was met with Wonwoo and Seungcheol awake. Hansol seemed to be the only one of them that slept, but he could tell that Hansol wasn't sleeping like he usually did. And when he saw the rest of them come in he knew that none of them had slept well if at all. It was a safe bet to make that Jun was probably the only one of them that actually got any sleep at all. The worse one out of them all though was Jeonghan. In Joshua's medical opinion, he looked like he was minutes away from death. He could hardly stand and if it wasn't for people holding him up he would have most likely gone down on the floor. To put it simply, he was in love with an idiot. 

Once he was sure that everyone could be around Jun without causing some sort of fire or anything, he went over to where his boyfriends were. The two of them had retreated to the back of the group and were sitting on the cot that Seungcheol and Hansol slept on last night. Jeonghan was sitting, leaning against Seungcheol's chest. He seemed to be half asleep, and he would have believed it too if it weren't for the fact that he kept moving every so often. Seungcheol was holding him, and was rubbing his back in soothing patterns, trying to get their third lover to go to sleep. Joshua smiled to himself at the cute scene that was before him. God, did he love those two morons. He walked over to them and sat down on Jeonghan's free side on the little cot. Jeonghan turned his attention to be focused on Joshua. He got out of Seungcheol's grip and moved over to basically sit in Joshua's lap. Something wasn't right here. 

Joshua looked down at the half-asleep brunette in his arms, he carded his fingers through Jeonghan's hair and looked over to Seunghceol. Seungcheol was looking over at them and he just shrugged and mouthed the words' sleep deprivation.' Joshua had to resist the urge to roll his eyes back into his head. Of course, Jeonghan hadn't slept in probably who knows long. Which would explain why he was acting so strange with them all. He loves Jeonghan, don't get him wrong, he loves Seungcheol too, but at the moment he really wanted to choke Jeonghan. He knows that he had to take care of himself, and that there was something going on with him that he had to tell someone. They've been over this a million times already! He seriously fins it very concerning that one of his boyfriends has no sense of self-preservation at all. Anyway, he knows that he is mad at him, or he should be but he just can't. With everything that happened last night with Jun, he realizes that it just could have easily been Seungcheol or Jeonghan. And that thought completely terrifies him. It could have been one of his lovers in that bed, and they may not have been able to make it like Jun has so far. He kissed Jeonghan's head and scooted over so that Seungcheol could wrap his arms around the both of them. And he knows that they're safe for now, but what's going to happen when they're not? What are they going to do there?

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All 12 of them were just hanging out in the room for about an hour now. No one had really said anything the whole time that they were there.You could feel the tension in the room and could probably cut through it with a knife. Everyone was just on edge, and they didn't know what to do with themselves at the moment. One of their friends had been shot, attacked and had almost died. That was a lot to take in, and a lot for him to deal with. They all just needed confirmation that Jun was going to be okay, that he was going to recover from this. It was all that any and everyone of them had been hoping for since the previous night. It was a scary experience and it did it's job they're all now scared shittless, and all of them fear that MingMing or someone else is going to come back and try to finish the job. 

At around noon or so, Hansol, Mingyu, and Wonwoo left the room to go and get them all food to eat. They were taking orders but everyone had said that they didn't care and to just get whatever they could get their hands on. No one in the group was picky, well expect when Jeonghan was nauseous, then almost anything and everything you put in front of him would make him puke. And that just left the 10 of them, well 9 since Jun wasn't really with it at the moment, more likely 8 since Jeonghan wasn't really with it either for that matter. More likely than not Jeonghan was just getting sick again and they would have to keep him from overworking himself to the point of ending up in the hospital, again. But he just sat there cuddling up to Seungcheol while Jeonghan was sprawled out between the two of them. Jeonghan had tried to keep his eyes open and stay awake but he eventually just gave out and fell asleep. Both of them were just content to let the poor man sleep since they knew that he hadn't slept in almost a week. 

"What am I going to do with the two of you?" Joshua asked quietly as he put his head on Seungcheol's shoulder. Seungcheol made a small offended noise as he turned to look at his partner. "What do you mean 'the two fo you?'"Seungcheol asked quietly as not to wake their sleeping third lover on their lap. "Hannie's the one who hasn't slept in like a week!" He squawked. "Yeah, but as I recall, when I first met you, you were the one who had a stabbed one, that was bleeding heavily and just told me that it was a flesh wound until you passed out and Hannie almost went down when you did." Joshua told him. That got Seungcheol to shut up pretty quickly. "Okay, okay, I know, me and Jeonghan are idiots and you are the superior one out of the three of us." Seungcheol told him sarcastically. Joshua snorted softly at that. "You said it not me." He sing-songed. Seungcheol rolled his eyes at him. "You've been spending too much time around Hannie." He told him. "What can I say?" Joshua told him. "I'm a man in loove!" Seungcheol just shook his head, and laughed softly. Even though they were in a very dire situation at the moment, they were still able to make each other laugh like they did in the early days. All three of them loved each other deeply, but they weren't going to lie and say that things were easy. Being the three oldest a lot of the responsibility fell onto them. They shared it equally amongst themselves but things were still tricky to deal with at times. And that was when they were thankful for the rest of their members. 

Around them were their members, who were gathered around Jun's hospital bed. Jihoon was sitting on one side of the bed, while Chan was on the other. Soonyoung was right next to Jihhon on his side, while Minghao was on Chan's. The four of them had claimed those spots when they came in and they hadn't left since. Neither one of them had said a single word, but they were all offering their own form of silent comfort to one another. Seungkwan and Seokmin were fluttering around the room checking on Jun's vitals and everyone else that they could get their hands on. It wasn't hard for anyone to figure out that the two other med students were freaked out of their minds. And they were both people who had to have something to keep themselves busy so that they don't go insane. So far it's work but there's only so much that they could do without having to leave the room. Joshua and Seokmin were off for the next couple of days since they did so much overtime, while Seungkwan still had to work but his shift didn't start until later in the day so he had a couple of more hours to kill before he absolutely had to leave. Which was a plus for all of them. He was going to be one of the ones to stay the night at the hospital again just to make sure that everything was going smoothly. 

Things have been rough for them in the last little bit, and things are going to get even worse before they start to get better. They were going to decide who the next three people that were going to be spending the next night here with Jun. Seungkwan really hoped that all of these gut-feelings that he's been having lately were just that, feelings. But there was this little nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him that things were about to go to Hell. It was unnerving him and he had to take a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart down. Now, was not the time to panic, he had to be calm and cool. He needed to show his Hyungs, Hansol and Chan that everything was going to be alright, no matter what.

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About 20 minutes after they left, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Hansol came back to the room with their haul of food. No one said anything as they opened and closed the door softly behind them. Which was a big red flag among the two eldest of the group that were still awake. Normally, the three of them who just came in would have been tackled on any other occasion. Food was a big thing in their group, more than one little petty almost fist fight has broken out over food. All of them loved to eat, and that was no lie, so to see all of them so disinterested in it, it was very jarring. Seungcheol and Joshua didn't know what to think about any of it. But even though they didn't share their normal excitement towards food, no one turned any of it down. Though rather they're eating because they're hungry or because it's for another reason he doesn't know, but at least he doesn't have to shove food down their throats. Now, Jeonghan was a variable that he didn't know about yet. More likely than not it would take some persuasion or maybe a little begging to get him to eat something. Hopefully he won't put up a fight, but with his luck it wouldn't be that easy. 

It took them about another 5 minutes or so to pass out all of the food and drinks that they got amongst the rest of the members. They even brought up some food for Jun too in case he woke up and wanted to eat while they were there. Now, they still had to go and wake Jeonghan up so that all of them could eat. Joshua had left the waking up part to Seungcheol, he was going to try and get their lover to eat. Hopefully he'd be more agreeable if Joshua was the one to get him to eat. "Hannie, Hannie.." Seungcheol called softly as he shook the younger's shoulder. He knew that it would be harder to wake him up since he had crashed. But he needed to eat, since he had told Seungcheol that he hadn't eaten anything at all since the day before. So it was worth getting him pissed at him to make sure that he would be healthy. "Jeonghan-ah, come on Angel time to wake up." Seungcheol called again. That got a groan out of the sleeping male, so at least they were making progress here. But Seungcheol knew that it was going to be slow going. 

It took them about 5 more minutes until they had Jeonghan woken up enough to get him to sit up. He moved and squished himself in between Joshua and Seungcheol. He was nowhere near awake at the moment, but this was better than where they were beforehand. Jeonghan ended up with his head on Joshua’s shoulder, and Seungcheol had an arm wrapped around his waist. Joshua leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lover’s forehead. And Jeonghan was too out of it to realize that Joshua was using this as a tactic to try and figure out if he had a temperature or not. He just hummed in response and cuddled up closer to the doctor in training. He felt a little warm to Joshua but it didn’t seem too concerning to him. Joshua lifted his eyes and made contact with Seungcheol, the two of them had a silent conversation between themselves over Jeonghan’s head. The two of them knew right then and there that they were going home that night to sleep, with all that’s been going on these past couple of days. The last thing that they needed was Jeonghan in the hospital too. And even if they sent him home, they knew that the only way to get him to actually sleep was for them to be with him. 

Since they had to wake Jeonghan up, the three of them were among the last ones to get food. By the time that Mingyu had gotten around to them, they had Jeonghan up and somewhat coherent enough to eat food. He was still half-asleep and leaning up against Joshua, but he would answer any question that you asked him. Mingyu ended up giving all of their food to Seungcheol to distribute among the three of them. The three who had gone to get food had just ended up getting all of them sandwiches, with bottles of water since they were the easiest things to get their hands on and carry back to the room. In total all that they had at the moment to eat was 13 turkey sandwiches and a bottle of water. It looked pretty harmless, but he really hoped that Jeonghan was able to eat it and have it stay down long enough so he at least gets some nutrients in case he does throw up. He just hoped that Jeongahan was able to keep the food down at all, he needs to eat, or else he’ll get worse. Seungcheol just hoped that whatever it was that he had wasn’t something serious. 

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Jeonghan was pretty sure that he was going to die. Well, he felt like he was going to die, and he knows that this sounds very melodramatic, but he really feels like he’s dying. He feels awful, he’s exhausted, sore, nauseous and bloated. And the last thing that he wanted to do at the moment was to eat or consume anything. Even the thought of drinking a little bit of water at the moment was enough to send the ghost of gag down his throat. So, when Seungcheol placed a small sandwich and a bottle of water in his hands, he really had to resist the urge to smack him upside the head. But he knew that if he refused to eat or to cause a scene, then everyone would worry about him. And right now, Jun needs to be at the center of attention right now. All of the focus needed to be on Jun so that he could get better. Jeonghan was fine, all that he was feeling wasn’t something that he hasn’t dealt with before. He could make it until either they went home or Jun woke up and could go home. He had it all figured out in his head about how he was going to go about this. He just didn’t think that the smell of his sandwich would be so potent and vile when he opened it. 

Almost immediately, the smell reached his nose and it sent his stomach rolling. He had to bite back a pained groan as a wave of nausea rushed over him. He closed his eyes, and sat his food down in his lap. He brought one hand to rub at his aching stomach, and he was fighting with himself on whether or not he should eat this. He was brought out of his thoughts when Joshua nudged his arm. Jeonghan opened his eyes and looked over at one of his lovers. Being placed in the middle, he couldn’t see that Seungcheol had stopped eating and was watching the two of them closely. Jeonghan gave Joshua a look as if to ask ‘What?’ Over the years that they have been together even before all of them got into a relationship, they’ve learned to read each other like open books. So it was fairly easy to have silent conversations with one another. Joshua narrowed his eyes at him and directed his gaze down to the sandwich that was still in his grasp. Jeonghan and Joshua then proceeded to get into a staring contest with one another. They didn’t have to speak a word to each other out loud to know what the other wanted to get across. He knew that Joshua and Seungcheol wanted him to eat, and he knew that he had to eat. He needed to be on the top of his game to be able to help out Jun when he woke up. But the mere thought of putting anything into his system was making his stomach roll in every way possible. He really felt like he was going to throw up. 

Eventually, Jeonghan gave up on his staring match with Joshua. He was just too tired and nauseated to keep up with the stubbornness anymore. All of the other members of the group would joke about how Seungcheol had ended up falling in love with the two most stubbornest people on the planet. And out of the two of them Jeonghan is more stubborn than Joshua. In all of the disagreements and fights that they’ve had in their relationship, Jeonghan more likely than not always ended up winning, unless they could get Seungcheol to take Joshua’s side. So to see Jeonghan give up on this so easily sent warning bells going through Joshua’s head. Something wasn’t right with this picture here, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. 

Knowing that he wasn’t going to get out of this and that he needed to eat, Jeonghan tried to take a bite out o f his sandwich. On any other day he would have relished in the taste of the sandwich, especially if he hadn’t eaten anything that day. But this time he just wanted to go to sleep and not have to deal with any of this. The first bite tastes like sand or dirt even in his mouth. It was awful and the more that he tried to chew and swallow it the more it felt like there was cotton or something else growing in his mouth. His stomach gave a very violent roll and he knew that it would be a miracle if he could even try to swallow this without throwing up all over himself and everyone else in the room. Projectile vomiting wasn’t fun in the slightest, but he had a feeling that it was the road that he was going to go down. At this point he had stopped trying to chew the piece of the sandwich, and he just closed his eyes and was trying to take deep breaths through his nose. But nothing that he was doing helped calm the nausea rolling deep within his gut. He was about 75% sure that he was going to end up puking in about 5 minutes flat. 

After a couple of minutes of trying to take deep breaths he opened his eyes again when he felt another nudge to his shoulder. It was his other shoulder this time so he turned his head to look at Seungcheol. His other lover was giving him a strange look and was holding up an unopened bottle of water to him. He must have meant for Jeonghan to take it to drink, thinking about it now. But the moment that Seungcheol had asked him if he wanted something to drink, it just sent his stomach into rebellion. Jeonghan had dropped his sandwich, he wasn’t really sure where it went, but he didn’t really care at the moment. He wrapped his arms around his stomach and groaned. He was pretty sure that someone was trying to talk to him but he wasn’t sure and he couldn’t tell you who it was or what they were trying to tell him. He just sat there hunched over trying his hardest not to lose what little food that he has barely consumed all over the floor of Jun’s room. Sadly, he just lost the battle with his stomach. As soon as he could feel the bile bubbling and making its way up his throat he knew that it was over. Jeonghan jumped up from in between Seunghceol and Joshua and ran into the bathroom attached to the room. WHere he promptly lost everything that he had consumed that day. (Which wasn’t a lot but don’t tell his boyfriends that.)

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Seungcheol should have really seen this coming. He knew that there was something wrong with Jeonghan and that more likely than not he was sick or he was getting sick. And he saw the way that he was hesitant to eat his sandwich. The moment that he saw all of the color drain from his boyfriend's face, he should have picked him and dragged him into the bathroom himself. It was just pure luck that Jeonghan was able to navigate his way through the mess that was the hospital room and get to the bathroom in time. Not even a second after Jeonghan had gotten up all Hell had broken loose. Everyone turned their attention to him, and Seungcheol and Joshua were barely able to tell everyone to stay where they were while they followed Jeonghan into the bathroom. To be honest this was not how he had envisioned his day going. 

When the two of them had gotten into the bathroom, Seungcheol made a beeline for Jeonghan while Joshua had closed the door behind him and locked it to keep some of their privacy. Jeonghan didn’t really seem to register the fact that he wasn’t alone in the room anymore. He was too busy heaving up stomach acid and bile into the toilet bowl. Seungcheol went behind him and pushed the hair out of Jeonghan’s face to keep it from getting any puke in it. Joshua came up to his other side and started rubbing circles into his back while whispering words of comfort in his ear. Joshua and Seungcheol shared a look of concern over his head as he continued to vomit. The three of them stayed like that for the next 10 to 15 minutes, it sounded horrible to the two of them, and that meant it was mostly likely at least 5 times worse for Jeonghan. This was going to be a long day. 

When Jeonghan had finally finished dry-heaving into the bowl, the only thing keeping him from drowning in his own vomit was Seungcheol’s grip on him. He was able to pull the ill burnette back up against his chest and away from the smell of puke. Joshua reached over and flushed the toilet to try and get rid of some of the smell. He then turned his attention back to his two lovers. Jeonghan seemed to be half out of his mind, he was leaning up against Seungcheol’s chest. Seungcheol himself seemed to be very worried and was holding onto the younger like his life was depending on it. Joshua sighed to himself, he wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to do at the moment. He had one dongsaeng in a bed right outside the door, recovering from a gunshot wound, and he had one of the men that he loved in here with him, trying and doing a very good job recreating a scene from the Exorcist. It wasn’t how he had envisioned his week going when he got up to go into work a couple of days ago, but here they are now. He just had to figure out what to do with Jeonghan now. The last time that he was this sick he couldn’t keep any food down and had to be hospitalized so they could put in an IV to keep him from dying of dehydration. He hoped that whatever it was they had caught early enough to be able to stop it from wreaking too much havoc on Jeonghan’s body. 

“Hey Hannie.” Joshua called out softly. “How are you doing?” He asked him. Jeonghan just groaned and leaned back against Seungcheol’s chest even more, which seemed pretty astounding since he already looked like he had melted into his chest. “I’m going to take that as you’re not doing too good.” Seungcheol said. Jeonghan just moaned, and smacked him lightly on the arm. That got a small laugh out of the other two in the room. At least he wasn’t too out of it to not act like himself. “Mmm..” Jeonghan groaned. “Anyone get the name of that runaway bus that hit me?” he croaked out. Joshua reached out and brushed his cheek. “At least you still have your sense of humor about you.” Joshua told him. Jeonghan groaned, and leaned back against Seungcheol. “Shua’s got you there Hannie.” He told him as he bent down and kissed the other on the forehead. “Be careful.” Jeonghan told him. “We don’t need anyone else getting sick too, if I’ve picked up another bug again.” Jeonghan scolded him. “How long have you been feeling like this?” Joshua asked him. “I’ve been feeling stressed out and had trouble sleeping the last couple of nights, but I just chalked that up to stress.” He told them. “But you both know that, and we all know that I can get a little neurotic when we go on big jobs.” He explained to them. “I didn’t think anything of it, and the vomiting started at some point in the middle of the night.” Jeonghan told them. “About 4-ish, maybe?” Jeonghan guessed, he wasn’t very sure. “Other than that I’ve been fine the last couple of days, everything just hit earlier this morning.” Joshua and Seungcheol looked at each other and gave a worried look between the two of them. They needed to get him checked out before they could leave the hospital. 

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When they were sure that Jeonghan was okay to leave the bathroom without the chance of him vomiting again, they took him back out into the room. When they had opened the door, and walked back into the room, all eyes were on them. All 9 of their conscious members were looking at them in various stages of worry and concern. Seungcheol was able to wave them off as he and Joshua helped to get Jeonghan back to the cot on the other side of the room. As soon as they got him laid down Seungkwan and Seokmin came over to look at him. They had pulled Joshua aside to ask him questions about his symptoms and what not. While they were doing that Seugncheol was sitting besides Jeonghan’s head at the edge of the bed, everyone else flocked over to them. Jeonghan looked like he was almost asleep so Seungcheol had motioned for them all to be quiet. They all nodded and were as quiet as they could be, they were worried about their Hyung. “Is Hyung okay?” Chan asked him softly. He had gone over to stand next to his older brother, and Seugncheol could tell that he was worried about Jeonghan. The brunette was sort of the mother figure that the younger never had in his life. The first time that the two of them had met all those years ago, it felt like an eternity at this point, they had just clicked with each other. It also probably helped that Jeonghan’s younger sister Hana was around Chan’s age and he had become overprotective of him like he did his sister. He’s always helped Seungcheol look out and take care of his younger brother and for that he was very grateful to the other. It was also part of the reason that the two of them had fallen in love with each other. “I don’t know Channie-ah.” Was all that Seungcheol was able to tell him at the moment. 

While everyone was turning their attention between Jun and Jeonghan’s bedsides, the three med students were over in the corner talking in hushed voices. “Is Jeonghan-Hyung okay?” Seokmin asked quietly. Joshua just sighed. “I think he’s just stress puking again, but he felt a little too warm for my liking when I felt his forehead so I don’t know for sure.” Joshua told them. “So we need to go and do something, Hyung?” Seungkwan asked him. “Do we go and get Solar-Noona, and see if he needs an IV or something?” Joshua mulled over their options for a couple of minutes before he had come to a decision. “Kwannie.” Joshua said. “Go and see if you can either find Solar-Noona or Moonbyu-Noona, tell them they we need one of them to come and check Hannie out real quick if they have the time.” Seungkwan nodded and slipped out of the room to go and try to track the two women down to get their help. Joshua then turned his attention back to Seokmin. “Dokyeom-ah, go to the nurses station on the PEEDS floor, see if you can get your hands on some Pedialyte or something that we can use to calm Hannie’s stomach and try to rehydrate him.” “Okay Hyung, I’ll be right back.” Seokmin said as he ran out of the room. Joshua turned his attention back to the rest of the members in the room. All of them were focusing on an asleep Jeonghan at the moment, so Joshua went over to check on Jun real quick before going back over to his ill lover. He was worried about both of them, but he knew that Jeonghan would have his head if he let Jun get a staph infection because he was too worried about him. He loves the man, he really does, but God, he could be so stubborn sometimes. 

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Seokmin was racing down the hallway that led him to the Pediatric floor of the hospital. As soon as Joshua had told him what to do the young med-student had jumped into the nearest open elevator and pressed the button for the PEEDS floor. Luckily for him it was only one floor up from where they were currently so it was a short ride. As soon as those metal doors slid open he bolted out and ran down to the nurses station. He had to wait a minute thought to be buzzed into the unit. It took what felt like forever to him to get someone to answer his page to let him in through the door, but once those doors opened he ran in. Well, more like speed walking, he didn’t need to get in trouble with Selugi (again) for getting over excited about something and almost taking out a couple of patients and other staff by accident. So he made his way to the nurses station, trying to see if there was anyone there for him to ask for the stuff from, or if he just had to go in the back and get it himself. Right when he was just about ready to go in he heard a voice speak up behind him. “Hell-lo Seokmin-ssi! W-what are you,.. Um d-doing-g he-ere?” A small female voice said behind him. Seokmin did the only thing that he could think of doing. He let out a little yell as he jumped about 3 feet in the air. Not his proudest moment, but it was a good thing that he was by himself. 

Turning around, Seokmin came face to face with Serena Kang. She was a transfer nursing student from the Uk, who like Hansol was of mixed race, her mother being Korean and her father English. She was a nice girl, was Seungkwan’s age and was one of the most beautiful women that Seokmin knew beside his own Noona and his mother. Okay, so he had a little bit of a crush on her but it was nothing big, he was nice to her but avoided being left alone in the same room with her for about 3 months now. Seungkwan and Joshua like to tease him about her, but he can’t help it that he gets awkward and tongue-tied when he was around and just started spouting off random stuff that made him seem like he was a psycho. “Oh, um, hi Serena.” Seokmin greeted her. “And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Oppa.” Serena smiled at him from behind her glass and nodded her head. “Okay then, Oppa.” She told him in a more confident tone. “Is there something that I can help you with?” She asked him softly. And that was when it dawned on him for the real reason that he was here in the first place. “Oh, yes! Do you guys happen to have a bottle of pedialyte to spare?” Seokmin asked her. “Joshua-Hyung needs it for one of his patients to make sure that they don’t get dehydrated.” He told her. “Oh yes, we do, wait here a second.” She told him as she vanished into the back room. She came out a few minutes later with a small bottle in her hand. “Here you go Oppa.” Serena told him as she handed him the bottle. “And tell Joshua-ssi that I hope his patient is doing better.” Seokmin blushed a little bit at that remark. “Thank you, Serena-ah, I, um.. I’ll see you later.” HE told her as he rushed out of the room and headed back to his Hyungs. He didn’t stick around long enough to see the little blush that crept up onto the young nursing student’s face. 

Upon getting back to Jun’s room, Seokmin was relieved to see that Seungkwan was able to find Solar so fast. Both her and Moonbyul were in the room examining Jeonghan on the little cot in the room. And much to Seokmin’s surprise Irene was in the room also. Joshua was the first to notice that Seokmin had come back into the room and he motioned for him to come over and bring the drink with him. Seokmin walked over and handed the drink to his Hyung as he waited for the Noonas to get done with what they were doing. “Well.” Solar began with. “You have a slight fever Jeonghan-ah.” She told him. “But more likely than not it’s because of all of the exertion you used when you threw up.” She explained to everyone in the room. “I don’t think you’ve caught a bug or anything.” Solar told him/ “More likely than not it’s stress related, right Irene?” She turned to one of the other women in the room. Irene nodded her head in agreement. “Yes, you are notoriously known as a stress puker Jeonghan-ah.” She told him. “And I wished that you had told me sooner that you were having trouble sleeping.” She scolded him. “Sorry Noona, I would have told you earlier, but things happened.” Jeonghan croaked out. Irene just shook her head at him. “Well, if you can keep down the pedialyte that Seokmin-ah got for you then I see no reason as to why you can’t go home.” And she had a feeling that Jeonghan would try to fight her on this. “Jeonghan-ah, I know that you want to be here for Jun-ah but you can’t do that if you’re attached to an IV in the hospital again.” She told him sternly. “Go home, rest try to eat if you can and if you can’t at least drink some liquids, take time for yourself.” Jeonghan nodded in response. Not long after the three women got up and left the room to attend to their other duties of the day, but not before telling them all if they needed him to come and get them. 

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It was really quiet. No, scratch that, it was deadly quiet, almost eerily. Not that long after the Noonas left the room business. It was already decided that those who stayed the night before were going to go home to rest. And it was also deemed that Jeonghan was going to go back home too so that he could rest. So after about 20 minutes or so of arguing they decided that they were going to let Minghao, Mingyu, and Jihoon stay behind, along with Seungkwan who had to work. They ended up staying not that much longer, and left around dinner time and headed back to their apartment. Seungcheol. Jeonghan. Joshua, and Wonwoo were in one car, while Hansol. Chan. Soonyoung, and Seokmin were in the other one. They still took the same safety measures that they did last night and arrived home after about another hour. When they got into the apartment, Joshua and Seokmin had led Jeonghan back to the bedroom to get him set up, and cleaned up. Seungcheol, Soonyoung, Hansol, and Chan went and checked the apartment for bugs again, while Wonwoo went to go and do a tech sweep again. When they were done they were still tech free, and Wonwoo couldn’t find anything wrong with their security systems. Seungcheol made sure that everything was locked up, he went to go check on his lovers. 

When he arrived at their bedroom, he carefully opened the door. The only person that he saw in the room was Seokmin who seemed to be making the bed. He glanced up when he heard the door open and smiled at him. “Hey Hyung!” He greeted. “Hey Seok-ah, what are you doing?” He asked him. “Oh, Joshua-Hyung and Jeonghan-Hyung are in the bathroom getting cleaned up, so he asked to fix the bed for you guys.” He told him. Seungcheol nodded and came into the room and went to help to finish making up the bed. “Is Hannie doing okay?” Seungcheol asked him. “He seemed okay when we got in here, you can tell that he’s tired though.” Seokmin told him. “Joshua-Hyung had to hold him up to get him in the shower and everything, but he hasn't complained about any new symptoms or the ones that he’s already mentioned getting any worse than they were before.” Seokmin told him. “So I guess things are okay.” Seungcheol hummed in response. “What are you guys going to do for food?” Seungcheol asked him. Mingyu, their designated chef was at the hospital, and most of the other chefs were there too, or were here but had other things to do. And he hated to say this because he loved all of his dongsaengs, but he can’t trust Soonyoung and the rest of them in their kitchen. He also doesn’t want to deal with an angry Mingyu. “Wonwoo-Hyung said that he’d help us make something edible when he gets done with whatever he was going to do.” Seungcheol could deal with that. 

Not that long afterwards, the two men outside the bathroom heard the shower shut off. It signaled that Joshua and Jeonghan were almost down in the shower. Seokmin took that as his cue to leave and let all of his Hyungs be alone together. And that just left Seunghceol alone in the room by himself until his two lovers were done getting dressed. Not even 5 minutes later the bathroom door opened and Joshua and Jeonghan walked into the room. Both of them were changed into their pajamas, and their hair was still a little bit damp. But to Seungcheol they looked what the exact definition of what ethereal was. Seungcheol has never been in more love with these two people than he is now. But give it about 5 minutes and he’ll end up saying the same thing again. He was a man in love so sue him. 

“Hey Hannie.” Seungcheol said as Joshua led the half-asleep male to the bed. “How ya feeling?” he asked softly as Jeonghan face planted onto the bed. Joshua just sighed in exasperation, while Seunghceol couldn’t help but to chuckle at the two of them. God, did he love those two. “So I’ll take that as a no then.” Seungcheol said. Jeonghan groaned and mumbled something into their comforter, but he couldn't make out what he was saying. Joshua swooped in and got him to sit back up so that they could pull the covers back and all three of them could climb into bed together. Once all three of them were in the bed, Jeonghan just sort of melted in between the middle of them. He was asleep with-in minutes, leaving Seungcheol and Joshua alone just the two of them. Seungcheol had taken to rubbing Jeonghan’s stomach and Joshua was busy carding his fingers through the sleeping male’s hair. And it had just dawned on Seungcheol that it was the first time that all of them had been in the same bed at the same time in almost two weeks. 

“So.” Joshua said. Seungcheol lifted his eyes up from where they were focused on Jeonghan’s face to see what Johsua needed. “Hmm.” He hummed in response. “Nothing, just that we haven’t had a whole lot of time to talk to each other in the last little bit.” Joshua told him. Seungcheol nodded his head in agreement. It has been forever since they have been able to talk to each other. With all of the planning that had gone into this job and Joshua’s crazy class and work schedule, along with Jeonghan’s worrying health, it didn’t leave a whole lot of room for talking. Most of the time after they were done with their respective tasks for the day they were all just sort of crash on the bed and sleep through the night until the alarm went off the next morning. Then they would just kiss each other quickly before getting up and starting their days. Most of the time Jeonghan and Seungcheol would spend their days together, but in the last little bit Seungcheol has been off with Jihoon and Soonyoung planning. They really haven’t gotten to see each other a whole lot over the past little bit. And once all of this was over Seungcheol was going to change all of that. 

“You’re right Shua.” Seungcheol told him quite;y. They were trying to be quiet so as not to wake Jeonghan up, the poor guy really needed it. Joshua turned his head to get a look at his lover Seungcheol. “I miss you guys.” Joshua told him as he brushed some strands of hair out of Jeonghan’s sleeping face. “I know, I miss seeing you guys too.” Seungcheol told him. “Things have been hectic lately and we haven’t gotten to do some of the things that we used to.” He said. “I know, I miss all of the stupid stuff that we used to when we first got together.” Joshua told him. “Maybe when after all of this is over we can do some of that stupid stuff again.” He suggested. “That sounds like a date Shua.” Seugncheol told him. “I’m in.” Joshua just grinned at him. “Yeah I figured that we could all use some stress relief and relaxation after this big mess is finally over.” Joshua told him. “You're worried?” Seungcheol asked. “A little bit.” Joshua admitted softly as he turned his attention back to their third lover’s sleeping face. “More or less for you guys and your health, which I always do, but now it just seems worse than anything else that we’ve done before.” He explained to him. “ I know that it probably sounds silly, but after Junnie getting shot, I’ve just had this feeling that things are different this time.” Seungcheol felt bad that he was making his lovers worry, but they were always trying to help those who couldn't help themselves.

“I’m sorry for making you worried.” Seungcheol told him. “I do my best to make sure that no one's getting hurt.” Seungcheol told him. “I know that.” Joshua told him. “But you know me, I just can’t help but worry about the ones that I love.” He told him. Seungcheol carefully leaned over the sleeping Jeonghan in the middle of them and kissed Joshua on the lips. The two of them ended up talking for they didn’t know who long, about everything and anything. It reminded the both of them of the old days, when the three of them used to sneak up to the roof of that ratty old apartment building that they first started out in. They would spend hours up there just laying there, talking about stupid stuff, and making out with each other. They had a lot of firsts up on that roof with each other. It was where they fell in love with each other, even though the old building was falling apart and was on the verge of being condemned and the landlord was a royal ass. Sometimes they both wished that they could just go back to those simple times and be there with each other without having to worry about the next time leaving one another’s company would be their last time seeing each other.

After a while the two of them had ended up falling asleep themselves. They were just enjoying being in each other’s company and catching up on the sleep that they all so desperately needed. It wasn’t long though, maybe an hour after they finally drifted off that their peaceful sleep was interrupted by a loud bang! All three of the men who were dead asleep just moments ago all jumped up from their spots on the bed and turned their attention to their bedroom door. All three of them shared a look of concern and they all jumped out of bed and were running towards the door. They didn’t make it that far thought before their door was flung open and Hansol and Chan ran into the room. They seemed to be unharmed, but the looks on their face said that something else was going on. “What’s wrong, where's the fire you two?” Seungcheol asked him. “It’s Junnie-Hyung!” Hansol said. “He’s awake! Junnie-Hyung’s awake!” Chan yelled. They were all left in shock.  



	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things really start to pick up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, hope you all enjoy. Don't know when the next one will be. I have to go now, my computer's almost dead. Have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 13

Jihoon was pretty sure that he was getting ready to lose his mind. It had been a couple of hours since the others had left the hospital, and it just left the three of them alone in the room with Jun. Seungkwan comes in every once in a while to pop his head in and check Jun’s vitals, and then of them. None of them had talked to each other in over an hour. Jihoon was sitting on one side of the bed, holding Jun’s hand, while Minghao and Mingyu were on the other side of the bed together. Minghao had Jun’s other hand while Mingyu had his arms wrapped around the younger male’s shoulders. Jihoon, like the rest of them at the moment was worried about Jun, so far it seemed like he was going to make it and everything was going to be okay. But, since he was currently the eldest in the room at the moment until either Jun wakes up or someone else comes in, he’s in charge of the children. He was in fact worried about Minghao. He’s pretty sure that the kid hasn’t said a word in almost 3 days at this point, or close to it. And if he has it hasn’t been directed to him. He was worried about the younger, Hao was the one to find Jun first, and Jihoon can only imagine how traumatic that must have been for him. 

Minghao was already a quiet and introverted person to begin with. He can be loud and aggressive when he wants to be thought. And you can almost always count on him to speak his mind and stand up for those he trusts. And it’s very hard to earn that man’s trust, so the only people that fall into that category are the members. But he is by no means saying that Minghao is a horrible or cold person. That’s not his point in this whole thing. What he’s trying to get at is that Minghao is a nice kid with a heart of gold, who’s very hard to get to know. Jihoon suspects that he would be more open to the people around him if it weren’t for the fact that society had screwed the kid over. No one should have had to go through what Minghao and Jun had to go through when they were growing up. Jihoon’s own childhood was no fairy tale but he’d gladly take it over their’s or exchange it with them if it meant giving his friends a better life. It was also part of the reason that Minghao and Jun were so close. When they had first encountered Minghao a couple of years back, Jun was part of the reason that they were able to convince him to join. Minghao had remembered Jun from their agency days in China. He knew that Jun and MingMing, who was his partner for missions at the time had vanished while on a mission in Korea and everyone thought that they were dead. He was very skeptical at first, but eventually they were able to convince him to join. 

And those two have been almost inseparable ever since. The only other one that Minghao acts like that around is Mingyu. Those two may fight like cats and dogs, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to be able to see the chemistry that they have going. Or as Jihoon likes to call it, sexaul tension, but Seungcehol says that it’s not appropriate to say that stuff out loud in front of the ‘children.’ But Jihoon wouldn’t put it past Tom and Jerry to end up in bed together at some point. Though he was strictly forbidden and so was Jeonghan from meddling in their friend’s love lives. And if Jun wasn’t laying the hospital bed before him, out cold and clinging onto life, he would be over on the other side of the bed bashing dome skulls in. Now wasn’t the time though for stuff like that and he was too busy worrying about his crush surviving through the night again. At the moment he was busy kicking himself for not working up the nerve to confess to Jun before they went on that mission. He should have listened to Soonyoung and Seungcheol and just gone up to him and said it. At then if something were to happen, Jun would know and Jihoon would know how he felt. And now it was bugging him that he may never know the truth and he may never get the chance to tell him that ever. 

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Jihoon came to the conclusion that maybe it wasn’t the best idea for him to be thinking so intently on these depressing thoughts. He turned his attention back to the before mentioned duo. Minghao was clutching at Jun’s hand, with a look of absolute desperation on his face. Mingyu, who was sitting awfully close to him had an arm slung over his shoulders, as a sign of comfort. Minghao had his head down, so it was hard to tell what was going on in the younger’s mind by getting a look at his face. But Jihoon wouldn't put it past him for crying. And he wouldn't blame him for it either. Jun, even though they aren’t related by blood, had always been some kind of older brother figure to him. Even back when they were in China, Jun was the agent that everyone wanted to be. Even though he doesn’t say this a lot Minghao used to see Jun as a role model in his eyes. He was one of the only good things that he got out of his time at the agency. It warmed Jihoon’s heart at how fondly the young thief would talk about Jun. And he knows that if Jun dies then it would crush Minghao to pieces. And Jihoon isn’t even sure if Mingyu could put all of the pieces back together, even with Jeonghan’s help. 

Moving on from his thoughts of his teammates. One of the other people that has been entertaining his thoughts ever since the incident was the traitor himself. Jihoon was never really sure what to make of MingMing when he and Jun had first joined the group. MingMing was more shy, introverted, and stand-offish than Jun is. But he was attached to the elder’s hip like some sort of growth. Wherever Jun went MingMing was there to follow and vice versa. He didn’t hate MingMing per sey, back then to be clear, now in the present was a different story. Jihoon could actually relate to the younger. Both of them came from not so perfect homes and had trouble opening up and getting close with others. The two of them weren’t overly close, but they talked a lot on occasion more likely than not. But the language barrier did them no favors, and MingMing was always close to Jun. It was sort of like he was protecting Jun from the rest of the members or something. Jihoon could understand that Jun was the only family that MingMing had left and he didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. Now though, Jihoon has absolutely no idea what was going on in the other’s mind. He never would have thought that MingMing would go and do something like this, never in his life. 

The hacker sighed and turned his attention back to Jun. He spent some time just admiring the other’s face. Wen Junhui is one of the most beautiful people that Jihoon has ever met in his life. And he’s not saying that about his looks, though he does find Jun very attractive but that’s just a him thing. No, he’s talking about all of Jun, looks, personality, the whole works. He is also one of the kindest and deadliest people that he has ever met also. He is a man of many talents and he never ceases to amaze him. It was a safe bet to say that he was in love with the Chinese male laying before him. When Jihoon and Seungcheol, along with Soonyoung had formed this rag tag group of people, he knew that he would do anything and everything in his power to protect them. They were his new family and he wasn’t going to let anything bad befall them. It wasn’t a promise per sey, just more of something that Jihoon knew that he was going to do, but treated it as a silent promise not only to himself but to the others around them. And that promise was broken when Jun got shot. And it just devastated him. 

Jihoon knew that their line of work was a dangerous one. He also knew that one of these days that the chance of one or more of them never coming home was greater the more that they did this. But all of them have learned to accept the risks to be able to help those in need who everyone else has either given up on or turned away. He just never thought that this would happen so soon or to someone like Jun. Though it then dawns on him that it was just naive thinking on his part. Jun goes on the majority of the missions and most of the time he’s put into the action packed thick of things. He’s like Seungcheol in most cases, if the mark or someone else wanted to stab the person closest to them, it would either be Jun or Seungcheol. Jihoon just always thought that it would be their leader since the man really doesn’t have a sense of self-preservation and tends to jump into the thick of things without thinking of the outcome first. It gives Jeonghan and Joshua a heart attack every time. They both scold him and tell Seungcheol that he’s going to be the death of both of them. Jihoon smirks to himself at that fond memory that he has of them. And then his thoughts turn back to Jun and he thinks about how he may never get to be in love with his crush like the 95 line have gotten to do with each other. It’s depressing. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Never fear though, Jihoon had already come up with several plans to track down MingMing and make him pay. And he made sure to be able to include every member in the group so that they could help if they wanted to. Vindictive he knows, but he doesn’t really care at this point and really wants to make the younger man pay for what he did. You don’t mess with a member of SEVENTEEN and get off of it scott free. At least in Jihoon’s book you don’t. Normally, he really wasn’t one of revenge, which is ironic considering his career choice now, yes he can hold a grudge, but he just blows up and moves on. It was the typical hotheaded behavior for him he liked to get mad, but getting even was too much work for him. So this was something serious for him to be willing to do it all and plan the whole thing out himself. 

Jihoon had gotten into the habit of tracing abstract patterns on the back of Jun’s hand. It was calming, and holding his hand while doing this and feeling the warmth of it helps to remind him that he’s still alive. He just keeps praying silently to himself that Jun was going to be strong enough to pull through. He just had to. Jihoon didn’t know what he was going to do in a world without Jun. He loves him, there’s not a doubt about it in his mind, Jihoon loves Jun, just like Seungcheol loves Jeonghan and Joshua, and how the sky is blue and water’s wet. It was just a thing that just had to exist in this world. So that made it even more important to him that Jun had to pull through he just had to. He had to pull through and wake up so that Jihoon could confess and tell him that he loved him with all of his heart. He had to pull through. 

Focusing back on the sounds around him, Jihoon could hear all of the machines that Jun was hooked up to beeping. The sound was beginning to get on his nerves but at the same time it was also very comforting since they were signs that Jun was still alive. Joshua had told them that with the strength of the pain medicine that they had given him he would wake up after a couple of days. So far, before he had left to take Seungcheol and Jeonghan home he had said that Jun should be fine. He would wake up, they’d make sure that the wound wasn’t infected, then they would go on to physical therapy and all that good stuff. The elder had explained in full detail that this recovery process wouldn’t be easy, for anyone. And that it would be something that all of them had to go through together for it to work. Jihoon just hoped that everything would go according to plan based on what he was told.  


Jihoon was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the slight movement coming from the bed. He still heard the monitors beeping in the room but he had gotten to the point that he had learned to tune them all out. His thoughts were so preoccupied with Jun that he didn’t notice all of the changes going on around him. He didn’t see Minghao’s breath hitch, and how Mingyu and his attention was solely focused on the prone figure laying in the bed. At first when he had heard the soft groaning and shifting he just thought that it was one of the kids. It wasn’t until he heard Jun’s voice and Minghao’s loud gasp that his head jerked up. When he did that he was met with the warm, soft eyes of one Wen Junhui. Who was awake and alive right before him. He was just so happy about it. Though everything was broken up when they heard Mingyu scream. “HAOHAO!” The two eldest in the room turned their heads and saw Mingyu on the floor, holding a limp Minghao in his grasp. Jihoon moved to push the call button on the bed, and took out his phone to call Seungkwan to book his ass over here NOW. God, he hated being the one in charge, where was Seungcheol when you needed him?

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

This just hasn’t been Jun’s month. First, they cancel his favorite Soap Opera, then they run out of milk for his cereal, then you know he gets shot. Not only does he get shot, he gets shot by the person who he saw as his own flesh and blood younger brother. Who abandoned him to go off who knows where and came back just to shoot him in the chest. And then when he finally wakes up, his dongsaeng passes out on him. And Xu Minghao doesn’t just pass out for no reason, or at least he didn’t the last time that he saw the younger. Man, what did he miss while he was out? If only the poor man knew what he just walked into. (Metaphorically speaking since, you know he’s confined to a hospital bed and kind of can’t move at the moment without help from someone. 

To get straight to the point it actually sucked, but there wasn’t a whole lot that he could do about it. He couldn’t really dwell on it though since he had a passed out dongsaeng to worry about. Lucky for them a nurse raced into the room after Jihoon had quickly pushed the button at a constant rate. And Seungkwan came in not that far after her, he had been on the other side of the floor attending to a patient when he got Jihoon’s call. They both seemed stunned that Jun was awake, but when he and Jihoon had motioned to Mingyu holding a passed out Minghao on the floor, they turned their attention to them. It didn’t take them long to check Minghao out and get him laying on the cot in Jun’s room that he just now noticed was in the room. Seungkwan had told them when the nurse had left that more likely than not he was either in shock from Jun waking up or he pulled a Jeonghan and was sick and didn’t tell anyone until it was too late. Jun was going to choke the kid when this was over. (And he wasn’t talking about Minghao-He also made a mental note to ask about what happened to Jeonghan too.) 

When they made sure that Minghao was okay and semi-stable for now, they all turned their attention back to Jun. “Are you okay Hyung?” Seungkwan asked as he approached him to check him out. “Okay..” Jun croaked. “Throat..hurts,...sore.” He told him. “How’s HaoHao?” Seungkwan shook his head as Jihoon handed over some water that he had pulled out thin air and handed it to him to drink. “He’s okay for the moment Hyung.” Seungkwan told him. “I’m pretty sure that he was just so worried about you that when you woke up it sent a shock to his system.” He said. “But don’t worry I sent the nurse that was in here earlier to go and get Solar-Noona for a second opinion and some electrolytes.” Jun and Jihoon just nodded at him. Seungkwan went back to checking the machines and Jun out. But both of the other men had their eyes on the two men across from them. Minghao was out cold on the cot, while Mingyu was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching him. It reminded Jihoon a lot of what he was doing with Jun. And how Jeonghan, Joshua and Seungcheol always…. Wait a minute, Seungcheol!

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Has anyone told Seungcheol-Hyung about all of this?” Jihoon asked everyone in the room. “I called Dokyeom-Hyung on the way here, he was going to tell everyone.” Seungkwan said. “But I didn’t know about Minghao-Hyung so they don’t know about that yet.” Jihoon nodded and moved to pull out his phone to text their group chat about Jun and Minghao’s condition. And also to ask about Jeonghan and to see about his condition.

**_Woozi: Hey, I have some news for you guys. If you haven’t heard any of this yet, Junnie’s awake. Kwannie’s checking him out now and so far things are going good I think. But Minghao-ah’s not doing so good. I don’t know what exactly happened, but one minute he was okay and the next, Mingyu and him were on the ground. Gyu-ah’s with him at the moment and Kwannie says he’s okay but he’s getting Solar-Noona to come and check him out to be sure. Anyway, how’s Jeonghan-Hyung doing?_ **

**_Hoshi: Oh no! I hope that HaoHao’s okay. Dokyeom told us, Channie, and Sollie went to go and tell the Hyungs. Wonu and I are getting ready and gathering our stuff up to come back to the hospital._ **

**_Wonwoo:_ ** **_How’s Jun doing? How’s HaoHao doing? Tell Mingyu not to freak out too much if Kwannie said he was okay and is getting Noona to come and look at him. I don’t know about Hyung, all three of them have been asleep since after we swept the place for bugs._ **

**Dino: Hansol-Hyung and I just told Cheol-Hyung, and the other what happened. He said that we’re going to come back to the hospital to see you guys. But Hannie-Hyung and them are fighting over if he should go or not.**

**Vernon:** **Yeah, it’s not that pretty in there at the moment. But Jeonghan-Hyung looks a little bit better than when we left so there’s that.**

Jihoon had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at his group members. At least he knew that they were all scrambling around back at their apartment trying to get everything together to come and see them. He can only imagine how the three eldest are handling each other and trying to get everyone gathered in the same place to make one big journey to the hospital. He can hear Jeonghan arguing how he was okay and that it was more important for them to go and check on Jun and Minghao. He bets that either Jeonghan will come or he’s going to be left at home and they FaceTime him or something so that he can know that everyone’s okay. But he’s banking on Jeonghan coming. That man is too stubborn for his own good, and his love for them all is too strong. He tends to freak out when one of them is hurt or sick and the only way for him to calm down is to see them in the flesh to make sure that everything is okay. 

Jihoon turned his attention back to his phone when he felt it vibrated in his hands again.

**_Woozi: Hey, I have some news for you guys. If you haven’t heard any of this yet, Junnie’s awake. Kwannie’s checking him out now and so far things are going good I think. But Minghao-ah’s not doing so good. I don’t know what exactly happened, but one minute he was okay and the next, Mingyu and him were on the ground. Gyu-ah’s with him at the moment and Kwannie says he’s okay but he’s getting Solar-Noona to come and check him out to be sure. Anyway, how’s Jeonghan-Hyung doing?_ **

**_Hoshi: Oh no! I hope that HaoHao’s okay. Dokyeom told us, Channie, and Sollie went to go and tell the Hyungs. Wonu and I are getting ready and gathering our stuff up to come back to the hospital._ **

**_Wonwoo:_ ** **_How’s Jun doing? How’s HaoHao doing? Tell Mingyu not to freak out too much if Kwannie said he was okay and is getting Noona to come and look at him. I don’t know about Hyung, all three of them have been asleep since after we swept the place for bugs._ **

**Dino: Hansol-Hyung and I just told Cheol-Hyung, and the other what happened. He said that we’re going to come back to the hospital to see you guys. But Hannie-Hyung and them are fighting over if he should go or not.**

**Vernon:** **Yeah, it’s not that pretty in there at the moment. But Jeonghan-Hyung looks a little bit better than when we left so there’s that.**

**S.Coups: Yeah, don’t worry we’re on our way now. Do you guys need anything? Just yell if you do or text, and we’ll get it. Keep us updated on Junnie and HaoHao please. Hannie won’t leave us alone until he knows they’re okay.**

‘Typical Jeonghan.’ Jihoon thought to himself. Leave it to the Hyungs to freak out over everything and nothing at all. Jeonghan really is the mom friend of their group.

**Hannie:** **Well excuse me for being concerned about the well being of my dongsaengs. But don’t worry, I’ve come prepared. I've brought hand sanitizer, and I’m wearing a mask even as we speak. Tell Junnie and HaoHao that I hope they’re okay and we’ll be there soon okay. How are the rest of you doing? Is Mingyu and Kwannie okay? How about you Hoonie? How..**

_Shua:_ _Joshua here. Hi, yeah I took his phone from him since Cheol’s driving. He’s okay for the moment, just very, very anxious. Be warned. Anyway for those of you who are curious Hannie’s doing okay, we got him to eat, but not a lot. He says he’s feeling better but I don’t buy it. NO fever though. If any of you need anything text or call us alright. I have to go now Jeonghan’s giving me the evil eye._

And it was times like this where Jihoon questions why he let Seungcheol talk him into joining this group of people in the first place. He loves them like they're blood but there are still some days when he wants to choke them all. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It only took about 20 to 30 minutes before all of their phones had blown up again with notifications that everyone was here. He handed his phone over to Jun, who was resting in the bed after Seungkwan’s thorough examination of him. Seeing all of the other’s texts about how worried they are about them brought a small smile to his face. Jihoon liked that look on the other’s face. Solar had come through again and checked Minghao out. By the time that she had gotten there they were able to get Minghao to wake up. He was disoriented, and a little confused but other than that he seemed okay. Solar had given him a clean bill of health but had told him to drink the Gatorade she brought him and to eat something. Her conclusion was that he did something similar to Jeonghan, too little sleep, no food, and too much worry. She said that more likely than not he just passed out because his blood pressure or his sugar had dropped. She checked both of them and they were fine but a little bit too low for her liking. She gave him that and told him not to move too much for the next couple of days and he should be fine. But if anything else happens to come back and see someone. 

Not even 5 minutes after she left the room, there was a knock at the door. Seungkwan went over to let whoever it was in, and when he opened the door he was met with the rest of their members. They all came barreling into the room with bags and what not. They had brought food, and drinks for them all. Soonyoung’s defense was that hospital food sucked and that Jun deserved something good. That got a laugh out of the eldest 96 liner. Once everyone had set down their stuff they took turns going over to Jun and Minghao to check to see if they were alright. Joshua and Seokmin had dragged Seungkwan over to give them a run down on Jun’s vitals and progress. Jihoon hasn't left his side once since he woke up, and Soonyoung, and Chan went over to check on him as well. Everyone else went to go and check on Minghao and Mingyu. 

Jeonghan had sort of hung out in the middle of the room, scanning over both of his ill dongsaengs. Even with the mask on he still was a little hesitant to get too close to either one of them. Solar had told them all that what he had was more due to stress than anything else and it wasn’t something infectious. But he wasn’t going to take any chances on getting either one of them sick. More likely than not Minghao did what he did, but Jun was the big thing here. His immune system was already out of whack from getting shot and Joshua said that he was at a risk for infection anyway, and he didn’t want to make things worse. The burnette stood in the middle of the room surveying his surroundings and had his arms wrapped around his stomach. He still felt a little bit nauseous, but it was nothing compared to what he was feeling beforehand. But he was still concerned that this was more than just stress. He knew that this was probably just stress and he was crazy for thinking of it but, he thought that he might be pregnant. He was scared out of his mind, not because of Joshua and Seungcheol though, no never them. He knew that the two other males were it for him, there was no one else. And they had talked about children in the past, but they never had a definite plan on when to start. Plus with all of this going on, he doesn’t even know if it was safe to have children at this time. But he couldn’t lose another one,... not again. 

Jeonghan was shocked back to reality when he heard Seungcheol’s phone go off. Both him and Joshua, along with the rest of the kids turned their heads. Seungcheol put his hand in his pocket and fished around until he was able to take it out and check and see who it was. He glanced at it and made the face that he always did when he got a call from an unknown number. Sometimes it was telemarketers, but more often than not now it was a client asking to meet him. Jeonghan could see the wheels in his head turning around as he was trying to figure out whether he should answer it or not. He decided that he should in the end. If it was just some crank call or something then he would just hang up the phone. And if it was a client he would gladly explain to them that unless it was a dire emergency, they could still help them out, but they weren’t able to do it at this very moment due to some medical issues within the group. He held his phone up and nodded at the rest of the members as he walked out of the room to take the call. Jeonghan watched him go, but there just wasn’t something right about this. He had a bad feeling about the phone call. He turned to make eye contact with Joshua and the younger had the same look on his face that Jeonghan was pretty sure he did. Something wasn't right here, and it scared him. He shouldn't have let Seungcheol leave the room. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Seungcheol stepped out of the hospital room and walked down the hallway a bit to take the call. Though by the time that he was able to get away the person had already hung up the phone. Just as Seungcheol was about ready to call back, he got a text from an unknown number. All that it said was _‘Meet me in the remodeling part of the hospital. The same as last time.’_ And that was when Seungcheol’s stomach dropped to his feet. This was the person that Seungcheol had chased out of the hospital the other night. Immediately he booked it down the hallway towards the area of the hospital that was to be redone. He still had the same creepy feeling in his chest as he did the night that Jun had been put in the hospital. He really hoped that he could get some answers out of this. But he was smarter than he was the last time he did this. He shot off a text to who he hoped was Wonwoo, but with how much his hands were shaking and how dark it was he wasn’t entirely sure. But now people knew where he was going. 

The part of the wing that was being renovated was still just as dark, if not darker than when Seungcheol had chased that gut through here.He couldn’t really make out it anybody was there, but he was afraid that it he called out that he would scare whoever it was who wanted to meet him away. His head snapped up at the sound of a door opening down the hallway. Tentatively, Seungcheol made his way down the hall and into the abandoned and unfinished room. He walked in and looked around the room. Not that long after he had crossed the threshold the door slammed shut behind him. Seungcheol turned around with a start and the sight that he was met with was slightly disturbing, and it scared the crap out of him. There standing before him was MingMing himself. Damn. 

“Hi Seungcheol.” MingMing greeted as he walked in front of the door. Right now if Seungcheol wanted to leave or had to leave the room he would have to jump out the window. “Don’t ‘Hi Seungcheol’ me, you bastard.” Seungcheol told him. “You have some nerve showing your face around here, you’re lucky Minghao or Jeonghan have found you yet.” MingMing didn’t even bat an eye at him. “I can assure you that I’m still terrified of Jeonghan-Hyung, I haven’t seen someone who is able to work people like he can since my mother.” MingMing told him. “And that I’m not here to hurt you or Jun-Ge.” He told him. “How is he doing?” Seungcheol didn’t believe him, he knew that MingMing was here for a reason, not just to see if Jun was alive and well. “So what, you just came here to see if Junnie was doing good after you shot him?” Seungcheol asked him. “I know that I have no right to come here and ask something like that of you but I promise Hyung that I’m not here to hurt anyone.” He was about ready to lay into MingMing for calling him Hyung, but MingMing cut him to the chase when he pulled out something from his pocket. Seungcheol watched him as he walked over and handed it to him. 

Holding a small flash drive in his hand, Seungcheol was wondering what the Hell he had just gotten himself into. “What’s this for anyway?” Seungcheol asked him seriously. “Believe whatever you want Hyung, but it’s to help.” MingMing explained to him. From the look of confusion on Seungcheol’s face, MingMing realized that he was going to have to explain in more detail. “The people that I’ve gotten involved with after I left you guys.” MingMing started. “ I… there’s no easy way to explain this to you Hyung, they’re after you guys.” He told him. “ That’s part of the reason that they wanted me.” Seungcheol couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “They knew, I don’t know how, but they knew that I was once with you guys, and they wanted me for information.” “What did you tell them?” Seungcheol asked him. “I didn’t tell them anything, Hyung I swear, but they didn’t believe me, they went digging on their own and found information on all of you, I think.” MingMing told them. “That’s why I was there the other night.” He said. "They told me if I didn't go in and shoot Jun-Ge as a warning to you all to back off then they would send someone else in to do it." Seungcheol was shocked at this. "Anyone else would have killed him, and probably Minghao-ssi and not have thought twice about it." MingMing confessed. " I knew that if I went through with it that all of you would probably hate me for the rest of my life, but I had to, I couldn't just let Jun stand by and die and not do anything." Seungcheol really thought that he was going to faint at the news. 

“ I know that there’s nothing that I can do that will ever be enough to apologize for my actions, but you guys, and Jun-Ge were the closest things that I have ever had to a family.” MingMing said. “And that was the reason that I left.” He told him. “I never had a family before, never had someone who loved me that I actually loved back.” He chuckled a little bit at that. “I was young, and stupid, I didn’t know what to do so, I just left.” “You left in the middle of the night without telling anyone.” Seungcheol told him. “You broke Junnie’s heart.” MingMing hung his head down in shame. “I know, and I’m sorry, but it was for his own good.” He defended to him. “Junnie was built to be with you guys, I wasn’t.” MingMing told him. “Jun was, is happy with you guys, I couldn’t just take that away from him, I knew that if I said I wanted to leave then he would have left with me.” He said. “I couldn’t do that to him.” And when MingMing looked up Seungcheol and the young leader could see the tears in the other’s eyes. It just made Seungcheol even more worried because MingMing was like Minghao, they didn’t cry. EVER. What the Hell have they gotten themselves into now?!

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Something wasn’t right here. Now both Joshua and Jeongahan know that normally if they have a client or something then the call goes to Seungcheol since he’s the leader. It’s one of the facts of life that they’ve come to expect and accept with being involved with Choi Seungcheol. Though there was something fishy about this one and Jeonghan couldn’t put his finger on what, but it was worrying a knot in his already upset stomach. And the more that he thought about it the more worried he was about Seungcheol. He’s been gone for almost 30 minutes now. So they all know that it wasn’t some kind of crank call or anything. And Seungcheol said that if it was a client then he would explain their situation and why they couldn't help immediately, that would take 15 minutes top. Jeonghan was really starting to get worried about him. God, what if something happened to him, what if he got shot too?! Jeonghan was brought out of his internal panic when Joshua placed a hand on his knee. He turned his head to look over at his other lover and gave him a small smile. 

Once the hype had come down from Jun being awake and both him and HaoHao being deemed fine and fit to be left alone for the most part, the group had broken up into smaller groups. Some went and sat with Jun, while others went to sit with Minghao. But at some point the younger Chinese male had wanted to go and see him, so his group had migrated with him over to the bed. And that left Joshua and Jeonghan alone on the cot. Joshua had moved them to where they were laying on the cot. Jeonghan was lying down on the bed with one arm over his stomach and the other around Joshua with his head on the younge’s chest. And Joshua was laying on his back with both of his arms wrapped around the brunette. Both of them were wondering where Seungcheol was, it shouldn’t be taking him this long. Joshua had started rubbing circles into Jeonghan’s back hoping to calm him down some for both of their sakes. They really didn’t need anything else bad happening to them right now. 

Joshua was able to get Jeonghan to fall into a light sleep when he noticed something. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Wonwoo get up and walk to the back of the room across from where the two eldest were. He had his phone in his hand and was reading something on it. From the look on his face, it didn’t seem to be anything good. And Joshua wasn’t the only one who was attracted by Wonwoo’s actions. “Hyung, what’s wrong?” Mingyu asked him. He had noticed that the elder had left and went to go look for him. He couldn’t really get a good look at his face since he had his back mostly to him. But hearing Mingyu’s voice was enough to jar him out of his head. He jumped and turned around to face Mingyu, and brought his phone down by his side. “Oh, um it was just my cousin.” Wonwoo said. And something about his voice didn’t sound exactly right, but Joshua knew not to push at the moment. “He texted me to tell me that our grandmother was sick and she wanted to talk to me.” He told Mingyu. “Is she alright? It’s nothing serious is it?” Mingyu asked him. Wonwoo shook his head in response. “No, no just the flu they think, but she really wants to talk to me.” He told him. “I’m going to duck out for a bit to check on her if anyone asks.” Mingyu nodded his head as the eldest hacker slipped quietly out of the room. And the younger went back to his place beside his best friend at their Hyung’s bedside. 

“You do know that Wonu-ah’s lying right?” Jeonghan mumbled softly into his chest. The sound of his muffled voice made Joshua jump a little bit in surprise. He had forgotten about the fact that he had gotten Jeonghan to sleep on his chest. “What do you mean?” Joshua whispered quietly as he brushed Jeonghan’s hair back from his face. He looked a whole lot better than he did earlier than this morning in Joshua’s opinion. Though Jun waking up probably helped them out in the long run. “His tone of voice changed, and you could tell by the way that he was talking that he was nervous and was coming up with something to say that sounded believable.” He told him. And thank God that Jeonghan is basically a human lie detector. That was one of the pros of dating a grifter: they know how to read not only body language but other things about people as well. “Then what do you think was the reason that he left then?” Joshua asked him. Jeonghan shrugged and buried his face into his chest. “Dunno, probably had something to do with whatever the text he got said.” Jeonghan told him. And that made something in Joshua’s chest contract. Something really wasn’t right here. “Do you think it was Cheol?” He asked him. “Could have been?” Jeonghan said. “Do you think it’s something that we should be concerned about?” Joshua asked him. “I don’t know Shau, I don’t know.” They really hoped that both of their members would come back soon.

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“So, how concerned do we have to be about the people that you work for ?” Seungcheol questioned MingMing. They were talking long enough for Seungcheol to start to believe his story. But he still couldn’t trust the man as far as he could throw him. “Very.” MingMing told him. “They are even more dangerous than you can imagine and they have me completely scared shitless.” He told him. “And you know after everything that Jun and I have seen that’s saying something.” Seungcheol was taken aback by that. Jun, Minghao and MingMing when he was with them, rarely, if ever talked about their time in “The Agency” before they joined them. And from what little they will say about it, their time there was anything but pleasant. “My God.” Seungcheol finally said. “What have we gotten ourselves into Ming?” Seungcheol asked him. “I don’t know Hyung, all that I can tell you is that these people are dangerous, ruthless, and will do anything to get to their target.” MingMing told him. “And as of right now, that target is SEVENTEEN.” He said. “And they won’t stop until they get whatever it is that they want from you.” 

“I’m sorry that I can’t be of more help to you Hyung.” MingMing told him. Seungcheol shook his head, he was pretty much speechless at all of the information that he was given. “No, it’s not your fault Ming.” Seungcheol told him. “Even though we all wanted to meet up with you again someday, we wanted it under different and better circumstances.” He said. “But I am glad that you did the right thing by coming here and telling us all of this.” “So you believe me?” MingMing asked him. “As of now I do, I’ll give this,” He said as he gestured to the flash drive in his hand. “To Jihoonie and see what him and Wonwoo can make of it, hopefully we can get something out of it.” MingMing hummed in response. And that was the moment that they heard footsteps coming down the hallway. “Hyung?” A few beats passed before the same voice called out again. “Seungcheol- Hyung?” Said man recognized the voice as belonging to Wonwoo. He must have gotten his text earlier. Seungcheol turned his attention back to MingMing and wasn’t that surprised to find that the other had vanished again. The same window as before was wide open. Seungcheol was just hoping that everything would end well and that MingMing would stay safe until they could meet again. Seungcheol noticed a piece of paper on the ground. _‘Hope to see you soon. Here’s the number that you can reach me at- X-XXX-XXX- MM.’_

Seungcheol jumped as the door to the room that he was in was thrown open, and it banged against the wall. He spun around and saw that it was just Wonwoo coming into the room. He had a look of worry on his face, but other than that he seemed to be okay. “Hyung, are you okay?” Wonwoo asked. “What happened?” Seungcheol just shook his head. “Something that we really need to talk about.” He told him. “But that’s something that we can deal with tomorrow.” He said as he went over to close the window that was opened. Wonwoo took notice of it, and made a note to ask the elder about it later on. Seungcheol then turned around and ushered the other man out of the room. They both walked back down the hallway towards Jun’s room in silence. Neither one of them said anything as they entered the room and headed off into different areas of the room. Seungcheol headed over to where Jeonghan and Joshua were asleep on the cot. He sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on Jeonghan’s back. Wonwoo watched the three of them from afar. Something wasn’t right here, and both he and Seungcheol knew that, but their leader said that they were going to address it so he can’t be too worried about it now can he? If only he knew.

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“So what’s up with you?” Joshua asked as he sat down on the bed. When Seungcheol and Wonwoo had gotten back to the room, they all had decided to let Jun and those who were staying behind to rest in peace. So they all left the room and piled into their cars and headed home. They did the same things that they normally do now when they leave the apartment now. And all of them searched the place for any spyware equipment. Seungcheol had taken one last look outside the apartment window that faced the main street before going to his room. He didn’t see anything but that didn’t mean much. He headed to the room that he shares with his lovers. Joshua was standing in the room, and he had told him that Jeonghan was in the bathroom. Doing what, Joshua didn’t know. And that just left the two of them alone in the room. 

“Well?” Joshua asked again. Seungcheol sighed and dropped down onto the bed on his back. He stuck his hand in his hand’s pocket and dug around until he got the flashdrive and the note out of it. He handed it over to Joshua and let him read it. He didn’t say anything and just let his lover read the note. A few minutes late Joshua finally spoke. “Oh.. my.. Is this really…?” He asked in a soft voice. Seungcheol just nodded his head from his position on the bed and threw his arms over his face. “But,. I thought that MingMing was the bad guy?” Joshua questioned him. Seungcheol sighed and moved to sit up on the bed. “He’s working for them.” Seungcheol said. “He got recruited to work for them to get to us, but when they told him to kill Junnie to get us to back off he didn’t want to do it.” He saw that Joshua was about to say something but put up his hand to stop him. He needed to hear the full story first. “But he knew that if he said no then someone else would do it and they would have killed him, and probably Minghao and everyone else that went to go and check on him when they first heard the shots.” “So this is something way bigger than any of us had thought it was before?” Joshua asked, Seungcheol nodded. “Have you looked at the drive yet?” “No, I’m going to give it to Wonwoo in the morning, and see what him and Hoonie can make of it.” 

Not long after, Jeonghan had come out of the bathroom. He was then informed about everything that was going on. When they were done explaining everything to him, Jeonghan didn’t say anything for a long while. Joshua and Seungcheol were starting to get nervous about his silence. Then out of nowhere, Jeonghan just burst out into tears. He just started sobbing his little heart out. Joshua and Seungcheol were shocked, Jeonghan hated crying in front of people, even them, and it took a lot for him to just break down in front of them like he was doing now. So this was really affecting him more than he was letting on. But both of them just wrapped their arms around the crying male and held him as he sobbed. They were like this for about 10 minutes before Joenghan had calmed down enough to speak to him. “Why?” Jeonghan gasps. “Why? All that we ever tried to do was to help people, I know that the way we go about it isn’t that efficaly or legal most of the time, but still.” Jeonghan argued. “We help people that are too scared to ask for it and the ones who are just brushed off.” He cried. Joshua just brushed back some hair from his face as Seungcheol rubbed his back. “I don’t want to die, I don’t want either of you to die, and if those sick, sadistic sons of bitches think that they are going to come anywhere near any of my kids after what they tried to do to Junnie, then they have other things coming!” And it was times like these that Seungcheol remembers why he fell in love with this man.

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Jeonghan was nervous, he was beyond nervous. Okay so there were no words that he could think of that could describe how freaked out he is right now? He’s pregnant? Or, well there's a good chance that he is pregnant? God, he was going to pull his hairs out by the roots at the rate that he was going! He was scared, he knew that more likely than not that Joshua and Seungcheol wouldn't hate him for being pregnant. They probably would think that it wouldn’t be the ideal time to have a kid, especially with all that’s happened in the past week. Hell, his own mother was barely 18 when she had him so he can’t really be a good judge about this. But, what if whatever it is that they’re involved in is serious. Like deadly serious. Jeonghan placed a hand on his stomach as he started pacing around the bathroom. What if he lost the baby? What if whoever’s after them kills the baby or takes it from him? He couldn’t handle it. He couldn’t go through this again, not after he miscarried last time he was pregnant.He couldn’t deal with going through that a second time. He just couldn't. 

Deciding that it would be better just to take the test and find out what’s what, Jeonghan started digging around through the drawers. Since he was a carrier and both of his partners knew this and they were cautious about things. They had a whole lot of tests stored in their bathroom for emergencies like this. This isn’t Jeonghan’s first pregnancy scare, but this is the first one that he’s had with Joshua and Seungcheol. He grabbed the box out of the little cubby with shaking hands. He read the instructions and took the test. He set a timer on his phone and turned on the water, and got in the shower. This was like the 3 showers that he’s had in the last 24 hours, but he really needed it. Showers were always something that he could use to calm down with, they helped him relax. His phone went off while he was in the shower, and he got out early to check it. After wrapping a towel around himself, Jeonghan turned the alarm off on his phone and walked over to the bathroom counter. This was it the moment of truth, God he wished that he didn’t have to do this. 

After about a five minute debate on rather he should just go ahead and get this over with now, or if he should go and get his two lovers from the room and do it together. He just took a wild hair and flipped the thing over to look at it. Jeonghan felt absolutely numb as he saw the little negative sign(-) staring back at him. He felt relief and sad and a bunch of other emotions he didn’t know what to call. He wasn’t pregnant, that was a good thing right now for them. With the mess that they were in at the moment, they didn’t need him to be pregnant on top of it all. That would just make things way worse than they already were. Jeonghan, after a few minutes of just staring at the stupid piece of plastic decided to just go ahead and throw it away and get dressed. He needed to go and see Joshua and Seungcheol, he knew that if he didn’t then he would just lose it. But he didn’t know what he was walking in on when he entered the other room.

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Meanwhile,..... 

“What do you mean that he’s still alive!?” A man in a nice suit yelled. The poor lackey who was stuck telling him this just flinched back in fear. He waited a couple of seconds for the boss man to calm down just a little bit before he continued to speak. “I.. I mean that he’s still alive Sir.” he gulped when the man turned around and stared at him. He had never seen someone so red in the face mad before. At that moment he was really regretting all of the life choices that he had made at the moment. The man in charge didn’t say anything, just turned around and cleared everything off of his desk in one fell swoop. Everything on the desk just hit the floor with a loud BANG! It scared the complete and utter shit out of the poor henchman, he wasn’t getting paid enough for this. Though now wasn’t the right time to say this thought out loud. He wasn't an idiot, even though he wasn’t the brightest crown in the box. He valued his life and he wasn’t going to jeopardize it because he opened his big mouth. He should have listened to his mother and gone to medical school. He would have gotten paid more and not have to deal with his maniac. 

Now wasn’t the time to dwell on past mistakes though. Once, the man had calmed down enough to speak, he went to go and sit down in his chair. “Well,” He said. “I guess that we’re going to have to go with plan B then.” The lackey just nodded his head. It was just easier to go along with things than to question them at this point. “Do you know where the hittman has run off to?” The henchman nodded his head again. No, they didn’t know where MingMing had gone. He had vanished off of the grid after they thought that the job was done and they haven’t been able to find him since. He knew how to disappear and stay that way. They were searching everywhere for him, but they have no luck yet. He just hoped that the boss didn’t kill them all before they could do that though. And going through all of this trouble for just a bunch of meddling kids. He would never understand that. He really needed a raise.

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MingMing sighed to himself as he watched the street across from him. He had found refuge on the top of an abandoned building across the street from SEVENTEEN’s apartment building. Call him paranoid if you must but he didn't really care. He had to make sure that they all were okay. These people that they were going up against weren’t some small-time crooks who wanted to go joyriding or something. These men killed people for a living and they enjoyed it very, very much. They enjoyed watching innocent people suffer under their torture. It was like a favorite past time or hobby for the men that he worked with. It just made MingMing sick to his stomach whenever he thinks about why he had joined them in the first place. All that he wanted was a job that paid and a place to call his own. But he got way more than he bargined for when he signed up for this. None of them would hesitate to put a bullet between anyone of their eyes. And they scared MingMing. And he doesn't get scared, so that tells you how bad all of this is. His old family wasn’t safe, and that was something that he was absolutely sure of. These people knew how to do their research and they weren’t the least bit afraid to go and use it. They would go in and take everything from them. These people that he found himself with here absolutely ruthless, and deadly. And that's definitely saying something important coming from someone like him. 

And he knows that all of the things that he has done to them both now and the past are unforgivable. He realizes that he had done some pretty awful things in his life, but the ones that he regrets the most is all of the ones that he has done to them. Especially Jun, the man had treated him like a brother since day one when they first met. Jun made sure that he was clothed and fed and didn't do stupid stuff to get him killed. He can never repay Jun for all of the kindness and compassion that he has shown him in all of the years that that they have known each other. He knows that they won’t forgive him any time soon, if ever, and he doesn't expect them to. If their positions were reversed he wouldn't. He could tell you that now. But just because they hate him now, doesn’t mean that he doesn't care about them anymore. He still loves all of them like they were all blood family. They gave him a home and a life, love and a purpose that was more than just killing people. He felt more like a person than he ever has in his life during his time with the group. They were the family that he never had but always wanted. And he was stupid enough to go and throw all of that away because he was too young and immature to deal with his feelings like a normal person. MingMing knows that he has screwed up royally, and there's nothing that he can do to change that. He is just determined to do everything that he can to change that. He can't fix the past, but he can sure as Hell try to change the future. He still loves them and he will love them until the day that he dies. But for now, he just has to go and do everything in his power to make sure they all stayed alive and well. He would do anything for his family, anything. No matter what it takes, he was going to make sure that these sick bastards couldn't hurt his family ever again. So he went back to his vigilante watch position from across the street. NO one else was going to get hurt on his watch, that much he could promise you. And hopefully this would help make up for some of the bad stuff that he’s done in his life. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings are talked about and realized, things progress, and Hansol wishes that he was Beyonce'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, hope that you enjoy and things are starting to pick up now. Enjoy!   
> -N.

Chapter 14

After Jeonghan's mini meltdown earlier, the three eldest ended up sitting hunched together on the bed cuddling. It was something that all of them needed at the moment, but wouldn't say it out loud. Jeonghan ended up being sandwiched in the middle of them. He was just done, with all of it. He just wanted whoever it was that was going after them to stop and just go away. They didn't need nor want this in their lives at the moment. All that they wanted to do when they formed this group was to go and help those who needed it but weren't getting it. None of them had said a single word to each other since they had gotten Jeonghan calmed down. Both of his lovers had known that now wasn't the time to push for what was bothering him. They knew that it was more than just this, but from all the years that they have known each other pushing him would only make Jeonghan clam up even more. Joshua and Seungcheol are just content to sit there and wait for him to open up on his own timeline. So, you can only imagine the shock and surprise on both of their faces when Jeonghan spoke. "I took a pregnancy test." 

No one in the room had said anything for a couple of minutes before Joshua broke the silence. "And?" Joshua asked him. "What were the results?" Jeonghan had taken his sweet time in answering them, but they didn't push him. "It was negative." Jeonghan said softly. "I'm not pregnant." And that load of information just floored the both of them. When they all started this relationship, Joshua and Seungcheol both knew that Jeonghan was a male carrier. And being a male carrier, that allowed him to become pregnant. They all knew that it was a risk and that they had to be careful about what they did. And the three of them have talked about having kids and starting a family. But they never thought that it would happen this soon. Don't get it wrong, all three of them knew that they were it for each other and they had no intention of ever being with someone else. This news was still very shocking though. Now wasn't the ideal time to have a kid, with the possible death threats looming over their heads. But even though all three of them know this, the other two couldn't help but think how devastated Jeonghan must be about this. Regardless of this, when someone tells you that you're not pregnant, it just makes you feel awfully, broken, like you can't do anything right. To put it in layman's terms, it makes you feel like shit. 

Joshua and Seungcheol were beyond concerned about the other. They've seen Jeonghan get bad before, but not like this. In all of the years that they have known him and seen him break down, they've never seen it get this bad. And even that one time that they were scared that Jeonghan might try to kill himself, he wasn't this out of it. They really hoped that Jeonghan would be okay, and that whatever it is that's troubling him was something that they could work through together, the three of them. The two of them love Jeonghan, they really do, and they would do anything for him. Jeonghan does so much for them all and all that he wants to do is to just be happy and with them, his family. And to this day, both of them have made this silent pact that if they were to ever come across Jeonghan's asshole of a step-father, that, well, things weren't going to end pretty. And that was just going to be the beginning of it. That monster did things to the man that they both love that are unspeakable. Which is the root of most of the issues and illnesses that Jeonghan still suffers from now as an adult. He made Jeongahn grow to hate himself, and think that he was a waste of space in this world and that no one would ever love him. It just pissed the both of them off and they hated it. 

"Are you okay Angel?" Seungcheol asked him softly as he kissed Jeonghan on the cheek. Joshua pushed some of the brunette's face and kissed his other cheek. Jeonghan just shrugged in response and let out a deep shuddering breath. "I don't know." He said. "I feel... numb kind of I guess.." He told them. " I mean I was scared sure, I mean I could be pregnant, which by itself was scary enough for me on its own, but with what happened to Junnie, it just made all of it way, way worse." He explained to them. "And if I was pregnant then that would make me a target for whoever it is after us, and I wouldn't be able to handle it, that much I know." Jeonghan confessed. "But at the same time, I feel empty, I know that this wouldn't be the ideal time to do it, but you know, I thought that I was pregnant there for a second." He told them. "I thought of a bunch of little kids running around looking like miniature versions of the two of you, and it just made everything better." At some point during his confession he started crying again. Joshua hummed and moved to wipe away the tears from his face. "It's okay baby." Joshua told him. Both he and Seungcheol went to hug their other lover. "Yeah, what Shua said." Seungcheol told them. "After all of this is over.." Seungcheol began. Jeonghan and Joshua turned their heads to see what he wanted to say. "After all of this is over, how would you feel about trying for a baby?" 

Jeonghan and Joshua were just stunned. Sure, they have talked a lot about having kids in the past multiple times before, but they never really talked about that possibility. But, with the way that things were going, it gave them a bit of hope. All three of them at one time or another had said out right that they wanted children. They just never got around to discuss things in great detail. Jeonghan replied almost immediately, he didn’t even really take the time to think anything over. “Yes.” He said breathlessly. “Yes, I…I want to try when all of this is over.” He said. “If you guys want to, that is.” He added as an afterthought. So far they were ⅔ ways positive about this. It was Seunghceol’s idea, and Jeonghan had agreed like that. The only person who hasn’t said anything yet was Joshua. Both of them turned to the med student to try and gauge his reactions. He was quiet and he was making the face that he always did when he was busy thinking about something. A couple of minutes after the question was asked Joshua spoke. “I love you, both of you.” He told them. “I love the both of you so, so much that I’m kind of offended that you thought that you had to ask me to try for a kid like you thought that I would ever tell either one of you no.” Jeonghan just let out a big sigh of release and lunged at the younger to give him a hug. Seungcheol joined not that long after and all three of them were sitting on their bed, crying, laughing, and just being there with each other. They’ve been through everything with each other at this point, they could get through this too and so much more.

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That night at the hospital, Jihoon, Mingyu, Minghao and Jun were all stuck together in the same room. Seungkwan would pop in to check on them from time to time during his shift to see how they were all doing, And he was even staying the night with them too, just in case. Jihoon had a feeling that there was something more going on here, but he was too tired and emotional to question any of it. He just got so fed up with Mingyu and Minghao arguing (Pinning) with each other he sent them away to get food. Well, his exact words were “Go get food, drinks, take a walk, or something, or screw each other for all I care just get out of here before I kill one of you!” And that got the two of them out of the room faster than he intended for them to, but he wasn’t really complaining. But he didn’t really think his plan through that well though. One of the things that he didn’t take into account was that he would be left alone in the room with Jun. Well, shit. 

“You didn’t have to be so mean to them Jihoonie.” Jun said softly. Jihoon turned to look at him from where he was still bound to his bed. His heart softened at just the mere sight of him. “Like you’re one to talk.” He told him. “I still remember that fight you had with Seungkwan when you guys got your jackets mixed up, and you wouldn’t admit it.” Jun rolled his eyes at him for that, which was something that Jihoon expected him to do. “What’s got you in such a crabby mood then?” Jun asked him. Jihoon just shrugged in response at the question that he really didn’t want to answer. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jihoon said. “I’m just being my normal, wonderful and perky self.” He knew that Jun was seeing right through his line of BS, but he didn’t really care at the moment. “Yea, well somehow I don’t really believe that.” Jun told him. “Something’s wrong with you Jihoon, you can tell me, I’ll listen.” And Jihoon knew that he was in a position that he had no choice but to tell him the truth. He was so screwed. 

Jihoon just sighed to himself, he knew that he had to tell Jun the truth. But he was still scared that once he told Jun the real reason that he was so upset he would be mocked. Now, he knew that Jun wasn’t the type of person to make fun of someone for how they felt and things like that. But it was just this really irrational fear of Jihoon’s that he has never been able to get over. What he was really scared of though was that if he confessed and his feelings weren’t returned then there would be a chance that he would mess up their friendship, and he didn’t want that either. But, like Seungcheol, and Soonyoung have told him, he just has to go and grab the bull by the horns and just confess. That was the only way that he could get over this and solve his problem. 

“I… I, I just want to tell you what’s bothering me, but I’m scared.” Jihoon admitted to him. “I know that you won’t make fun of me for it or anything, but …” He trailed off. He turned his attention to the blonde in the bed when he felt Jun place his hand on his. “Don’t be afraid Jihoon.” Jun told him. “You’re my friend, and no matter what happens I’ll always be there for you.” He told him. And that comment just sort of got the ball rolling for him. Jihoon just started word vomiting, and couldn’t stop no matter how hard he tried. “But you almost didn’t Jun and that’s the problem.” Jihoon told him. “You got shot, and you almost died. When I heard the shots over the comms I didn’t know what to think, at first I thought that you had grabbed the gun and was able to get away, I thought that you had shot MingMing.” And he did notice the way that Jun flinched at the mention of the younger man’s name but that was something that he was going to deal with later. “Then when the static cleared and I heard HaoHao screaming, my heart just stopped.” He confessed to him. “I ran out of the apartment to meet the rest of them here, and when I got here, with the way that everyone was acting I thought that you had died.” And Jihoon was crying now, but he knew that it was too late to turn back and stop now. He had to keep going. 

“I felt numb from the time that I walked into the ER, until Shua-Hyung came out and said that more likely than not you were going to be okay.” He said. “I, I just can’t lose you Junnie.” Jihoon told him. He looked up at the elder and saw the somber expression that he had going on his face. “And I know that I should have done this earlier like Seungcheol told me to, but I was scared. And when I got here and Shua said that you may not make it still I knew that if you had died I would have regretted telling you for the rest of my life and I couldn’t live with that.” Jihoon confessed to him. Jun was quiet for a couple of minutes, and Jihoon had thought that he had just fallen asleep again. But he surprised Jihoon when he spoke up. “What was it that you wanted to tell me then Hoonie?” Jun asked him. Jihoon was conflicted, he didn’t know what to do. He really wanted to tell him, but he was still scared. But after this little scare he knew that he had to do it, it was now or never. “I wanted to tell you that I’m in love with you Wen Junhui, as in more than just platonically.” He confessed to him. “I don’t know how long, but I love you.” Jihoon put his head down as he waited for Jun to give some sort of response. Jun just let out a small laugh. Jihoon’s head shot up to see him. Jun had a small smile on his face and was staring at him with a look in his eyes that Jihoon didn’t know what it was. “Lee Jihoon,”Jun started. “I’ve been waiting for you to tell me that you loved me like that for over two years now.” Jihoon was shocked at that. And he was even more shocked when Jun leaned over in the bed(Which he wasn’t supposed to be doing) and kissed him on the lips. Huh, he didn’t see that one coming.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

While that was going on, Minghao and Mingyu were walking around the hospital. After Jihoon had kicked them out for getting on his nerves, they decided to go down to the cafeteira to get some food. Well, the cafeteria was closed at this time of night, but there were some cafes and other little restaurants that were there and were open all night. Mingyu had managed to drag him to an all night pizza place to get some food. He was determined to get the younger to eat, since he knows that he really hasn’t eaten a whole lot today and after he had passed out earlier, he needed the food. He made Minghao go and get a table so that he could sit down while Mingyu had gone to the counter to order. By this point in their friendship they had learned what the other liked to eat and what they didn’t like to eat. So the easiest thing for them to get was an extra large pizza, that was half meat lovers and half pepperoni, with extra cheese. Normally, it’s enough food for the both of them to eat and have them sedated long enough that they can’t get in any too big of fights. 

After he had finished ordering, Mingyu went to go and find the table that Minghao had gotten him. The thief had gotten his usual table of choice whenever they went out somewhere. A little table, that was out of the way of everything else in the little pizza place, that was the closest to the exit so that they could get away at a moment’s notice. It was something that had been ingrained into him since he was a child, he always had to learn where was the best place to be during an emergency was to either hide or get out without incident. Mingyu knew that he was paranoid enough to do stuff like that, but he also liked the fact that it was helpful in certain situations that they have gotten themselves into over the years. But that wasn’t what he wanted to talk about with his best friend. He knew that Minghao wasn’t okay in the slightest. The night that they had come home from the hospital right after Jun had gotten shot, Mingyu had stayed with him all night. Neither one of them had slept much that night. Even though he could probably never get him to admit it, Minghao had spent all night crying. This really messed him up, Jun and him were attached at the hip and they were like blood brothers if you didn’t know any better. And after what happened to Ge all those years ago, Mingyu couldn’t even begin to imagine how wrecked this was making Minghao. He didn’t deserve that one bit. 

They didn’t have to wait that long before their food arrived. They thanked the waiter and dug in. Neither one of them had really spoken to each other the whole time, but Mingyu could tell that there was something bugging him. Minghao wasn’t acting like himself, he was more quiet and reserved than he normally is, and when you try to engage in conversation with him he gets more snappish than he normally would. Now, Minghao is normally a snappish and sarcastic person in general, but it’s gotten worse over the past week or so since this mess all started. Mingyu knows that this is just a defense mechanism that Minghao has to deal with stuff that he didn’t want to talk about. It wasn’t the healthiest way of going about things, but it could have been a whole lot worse so Mingyu wasn’t complaining. So the two of them had eaten the first part of their meal in complete silence. It wasn’t awkward by any means, in fact it was pretty comfortable, but at the same time it seemed unsettling. Over the years that they have known each other, the two of them had fought, and made up and fought and made up. The two of them have a sort of ‘ _Tom and Jerry’_ relationship. One minute their fighting, the next their friends and so on and so forth. For the most part though they really get along pretty well with each other. They’re best friends, along with Seokmin, and they tell each other everything. For the most part, sort of. 

One thing that Mingyu hasn’t told Minghao, is this new realization that he’s had in the past couple of months. And the reason that he hasn’t told the younger about it was because he didn’t want to get decked. The reason why Minghao might deck him you may ask? Well, it’s just fairly simple, Mingyu’s in love with. He’s in love with his best friend Xu Minghao, the feisty, sarcastic, funny, smart, kind, and beautiful thief from China. And it’s kind of ironic in his opinion because the first time that they met Minghao had stabbed him in the shoulder with a fork. At least that’s what Wonwoo said when he told him. Of course he had to tell his best friend and Hyung, Wonwoo’s always been the voice of reason for him ever since they were kids. So, when he came to this realization and then started having a mini crisis, he went right to his room. He did have to convince Soonyoung to leave the room so that they could talk, but it didn’t take that much. Mingyu spent the next hour getting laughed at by Wonwoo as he spilled his guts to the elder. All that he would tell him was “It’s about time that one of you pulled your head out of your ass.” Mingyu didn’t get it, and stormed out of the room. 

So he went and texted Jeongguk. After the last time that the two of them had met, they had gotten together and started texting each other frequently. It wasn’t long before they got the idea to make a group chat of the two of them, Minghao, Seokmin, and some other friends of Jeongguk’s that he had met through being in Bangtan. All of them were born in the year 1997, and all of them got along swimmingly. And it was purely safe, because Jeonggul had convinced one of his Hyung’s to help him set it up to where it’s untraceable and unhackable. His other childhood best friend had given him a similar reaction.

**Gyu:** **What do you do when you realize that you like your best friend? Purely hypothetical though.**

**_Kookie: Dude, you’re just now realizing that you have the hugest crush ever on Minghao? That’s laughable, like really, it is._ **

**Gyu:** **Hahahaaha, very funny. I don’t know what you talking about, this is just hypothetical, nothing about it is real.**

**_Kookie: Yeah right, and I’m Donald Trump. You don’t have to lie to me Gyu, we’ve been friends for years. And besides, I saw the way that you looked at him the last time I saw the both of you._ **

**Gyu:** **Fine. You got me alright. I love Minghao, and I don’t know what to do about it. I mean HaoHao is so sweet, and loving, but at the same time he’s also one of the most deadliest people that I have ever met in my life. What do I do?**

**_Kookie: Here’s a hint, why don’t you just tell him?_ **

**Gyu:** **Are you nuts?! I’m not going to do that, what if he says no?**

**_Kookie: Really? Well then you obviously weren’t paying attention to all of the death glares that he was giving me when he realized that we knew each other._ **

**Gyu:** **What are you talking about? HaoHao just doesn’t like strangers and he was worried that you were going to kill us or something.**

**_Kookie: Really? Fine, whatever Mignyu. I gotta go, Taetae-Hyung won’t leave me alone until I come to the dog park with him. Peace._ **

And that really wasn’t any help to him at all. Jeongguk really couldn’t be thinking that Minghao would have the same feelings as him right? Well, it’s a good thing that he was fully content on just staying here and pinning from afar after him for the rest of his life, or when the feelings fade, whichever one ever comes first.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

“So..?” Minghao looked up from where he was just silently eating his pizza to turn and face his best friend. Mingyu was just sort of looking at him like he had no idea what he was doing. Which at the same time wasn’t very unusual, a lot of the time Mingyu would get an idea in his head and go to say something only to completely forget about it moments later. So Minghao was just really prepared for anything, since once Mingyu forgot something he would just turn around and start babbling any nonsense that he could think of instead. Over the years he’s just gotten used to it and has come to tune all of it out. When Mingyu never said anything else that piqued his interest. One thing that is always constant about the older is that he never shuts up. He talks and talks and talks. When they first met it used to get on Minghao’s nerves so much. He just wanted to be left alone, but no matter what he did or said Mingyu had clingged onto him like a cheap leather suit. It was madding. But eventually he got over it, and it was part of the reason that he had fallen for his best friend. 

Minghao had never really seen himself in a long term relationship, especially after he got sold off to the agency. He always thought that he was considered too much as damaged goods and that no one would want to stay with him. He had already accepted the fact that more likely than not he would spend the rest of his life alone and die that way. He was okay with it for the most part, that is until he met Mingyu. He can still remember their first meeting like it was yesterday. He had been hired by some crazy billionaire from the Philippines to go and steal some horrid painting from another billionaire as revenge or something. As it turns out, SEVENTEEN was actually going after the same guy. Minghao would later come to find out that the person that he was supposed to steal the painting from was some sort of drug lord. He was almost exactly like the man that took his father from him and then ripped him away from his mother and stuck him in the agency and ruined his life. If he had known then what he knows now, he would have killed the bastard, but he has, for the most part just let it go. But on his way to try and get to the painting he had run into Mingyu, who was posing as a guest to try and distract the mark so that Soonyoung could go in and take it. The first time that he saw Mingyu, he thought that it wasn’t fair that someone thought it was a good idea to make a human being that gorgeous. He didn’t say this out loud though, and he used his broken- Korean as an excuse as for what he did next. Mingyu had tried to start up a conversation with him. Minghao, having no social skills whatsoever had gotten flustered and picked up the nearest thing to him. The nearest thing that he had on him was a fork, so he just picked it up and stabbed him (Non-fatal, he didn’t want to hurt him) and booked it out of the room so that he didn’t have to talk to him. Not his best moment, but he was 17 and scared and he didn’t know what to do. 

He ended up being caught a couple of days later, and ended up being asked to join the group. He said yes almost immediately after he had talked to Jeonghan. And most of the reason that him and Mingyu had fought with each other then and now is because of his feelings. He just never knew what to do with his feelings, and he would get mad and take it out on the person closest to him. Which just so happened to be Mingyu. Mingyu just makes him feel things that he never thought that he would ever have been able to feel before. At first it scared him tremendously. But after a while he just got used to it and never wanted them to go away. Though if anyone, especially Jun asks, he’d never admit it. Jun was the only one who knew of his feelings for the slightly older boy. And he still teases him mercilessly about it when they’re alone with each other. Jun always tells him to just go ahead and do it, he would tell him that he didn’t know that Mingyu didn’t like it unless he asked him. But, with his track record, Minghao was so scared to bring it up. And Besides, he wasn’t good enough for his friend. One of these days Mingyu was going to find the person of his dreams and live happily ever after with them. Minghao was okay with that as long as whoever he ended up with treated Mingyu like he deserved to be treated, but he didn’t like thinking about that for too long. 

“So,” Mingyu started again but trailed off. And if he did it one more time then Minghao was really considering slapping him upside the head, again. But this time Seungcheol wouldn’t be there to yell at him for it. “What?” He asked when Mingyu never said anything else. “Nothing.” Mingyu told him, but he wasn’t buying it. “No, not nothing, this is the second time that you’ve tried to ask me something since we got here, and you’ve been giving me these weird looks the whole time.” Minghao pointed out to him. “So what’s wrong, you know that you can tell me anything Mingyu-ah.” Said Mingyu was sitting across from him looking like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. He didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes and Minghao really thought that he was going to have to slap him or something. “Are you okay?” Okay, he really didn’t expect that question to hit him. “What?” Minghao asked him. “What do you mean ‘Are you okay?’” Mingyu just looked at him. “Well, one of the people that you consider as your older brother that you never had but always wanted and don’t you dare deny it, got shot and almost died.” Mingyu said. “And you were the one to find him, and you were the one who was adding pressure to the wound for forever since Kwannie had trouble getting out and getting to us in time so we could move him to the hospital.” He told him. “And he was shot by someone that he, I mean used to think of as our friend and a member of our family.” Mingyu explained. “Isn’t that the least bit traumatizing, or is it just me?

“It’s not just you.” Minghao said. “I.. I was, I am really scared for Jun-Hyung, and I’m scared that the rest of us are probably at risk for the same thing, if not something worse happening to us.” Minghao confessed. The younger was really worried about something happening to one of the other members that he couldn't prevent. He was still utterly terrified about what had happened to his Ge all those years ago in "The Agency." He still woke up in a cold sweat some nights because of that night, but there wasn't a whole lot that he could do about it now though. On more than one occasion, Jun and some of the other Hyungs had tried to convince him to and try and see Irene. He always refused, he knew that this was probably something that he probably couldn't handle on his own, but he just couldn't. He had trouble opening up to people in general, it took him forever to be able to open up to the others and be able to trust them all fully like he does now. He also had trouble talking about his feelings and things that happened in his past. Minghao has gotten to a point in his life that he was actually doing pretty good, and he knew that digging all of that crap up would just ruin everything. And he was determined to not let that happen ever, if he could help it. “But, I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen ever again.” Mingyu reached his hand out over the table and gripped one of Minghao’s in his. Minghao looked up at the contact and was face to face with his best friend. “You know that you’re not alone in this right?” Mingyu asked him softly. Minghao nodded his head. “The Hyungs, me, Seokmin, and the kids are all here with you.” Mingyu told him. “I know that, but I can’t help but to worry about you guys.” Minghao told him. And Mingyu had gotten out of his chair and moved over to sit next to Minghao on his side of the table. Mingyu smiled at him, and wrapped his arms around the smaller in a tight hug. Minghao buried his face in the taller’s neck and started to cry softly. The two of them sat like that for a few minutes, before Minghao was able to pull back and get a good look at his best friend. He really was in love with him. “You guys are the only family that I have left besides my mother and I’m pretty sure that she’s dead, I can’t lose you guys too, I just can’t Mingyu, I just can’t.” Minghao sobbed, Mingyu brought him into his arms again, and he made a silent promise to himself that he would do whatever it took to make sure that no one could ever hurt the man he loved ever again.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Back at the apartment, Hansol was just milling about looking at all of the pictures that were hung up on the wall. He hadn't realized that they had that many pictures of Chan when he had graduated high school. Though he did remember Jeonghan breaking out the camera that day and following Chan around from the time that he woke him up to the time that he got in line with the other students to graduate. And then he made Wonwoo videotape the whole thing, while he took even more pictures of Chan and cried. He still thinks that it was funny that halfway through the ceremony Seungcheol and Joshua had to wrestle the camera out of his hand. And he thought that Chan was lucky that they were able to hide all of the art materials in the apartment to be able to keep him from making the posters that he wanted to. Chan hadn’t even bothered to tell Jeognahn not to be embarrassing, because he knew that it wouldn’t make a difference whether he did it or not. Chan is the baby out of all of them and it was his big day, Jeonghan was determined to capture everything about it that he could, even if it killed him. Which Chan was about ready to do at the end of it all. Still, Hansol thought it was pretty funny. 

Speaking of said Maknae, while Hansol was on his little stroll throughout the halls of their home, Hansol ended up stumbling upon Chan in the kitchen. His back was turned to him, so he wasn’t sure if he knew that he wasn’t alone in the room anymore or not. Well, Hansol was going to take a chance and try to scare him anyway, it was rightly Hyung duty to do it. He slowly crept up behind, getting ready to pounce when Chan spoke. “Don’t even think about it Hyung.” Chan said in a monotone voice. Hansol froze in his movements at that. How did he know that he was trying to sneak up on him? “And to answer your questions Hyung, you’re not as quiet as you think you are, and I’ve spent way too much time around Woozi-Hyung and Jeonghan-Hyung for it to be good for my health.” Chan told him. “Well, there went my plans to lighten up my day.” Hansol told him as he came over to his side to look over the younger’s shoulder to see what he was doing. “What are you doing anyway?” He asked him. Chan just shrugged in response, Well, something wasn’t right here. 

Peering over the younger’s shoulder, Hansol noticed that he seemed to be making something. He guessed that it was either tea of hot chocolate or something since he had a mug set out. “I’m making hot chocolate.” Chan finally muttered to him. Hansol just hummed and nodded in response. Huh, so this was bad, Chan only ever made that drink when something was wrong with him. It sort of became a tradition when he was younger and whenever something bad would happen Jeonghan or Seungcheol would take him aside and make it for him. Chan would normally end up spending the night with whoever talking over what was wrong. But this time he was by himself and had probably planned on being all alone until Hansol had stumbled across him. Well, he was going to have to change that then. He was going to help out his dongsaeng and avoid facing the wrath of one, very pissed off Yoon Jeonghan. Seungcheol may be their leader and Chan’s brother and everything, but a pissed of Jeonghan was way more scary than a pissed of Seungcheol for sure, at least in Hansol’s book anyway. That was just sort of how the world works. You love Chan and whatever you do, you don’t piss off these 5 people, Jihoon, Minghao, Soonyoung, Seungkwan, and most importantly Jeonghan. All of the other members can be scary too when they’re mad, but these are the top 5 worst. 

“So,” Hansol said. “What are you doing up this late?” He asked him. It was almost midnight when he had gotten up because he couldn’t sleep and started walking around and doing other stuff. And that was about 2 hours ago give or take some minute here and there. So, it was close to 2 in the morning, and he’s pretty sure that they’re the only ones at the apartment who are awake now. “Nothing.” Chan told him. “Just couldn’t sleep, and wanted something to drink.” Yeah, right, and Hansol’s the Beyonce’. Though, that would probably get him in better with Seungkwan if he was, but that’s something to worry about at a later date. “So you decided to go and make the special hot chocolate that the Hyungs make you when you’re either sick or there’s something wrong going on?” Hansol questioned him. And by the way that the younger’s shoulders stiffened, he knew that he had hit pay dirt. 

“What’s going on Channie?” Hansol asked him softly. And he waited with a baited breath as the younger’s shoulders slowly slumped down and he hung his head low. “I..” He started, but trailed off. “I’m worried.” Chan told him in a grim voice. “Why?” Hansol asked him. “Shua-Hyung said that Junnie-Hyung’s going to need some physical therapy and stuff, but other than that he’s going to be alright.” Hansol told him. Chan shook his head at him as an answer. “No, I mean, yeah I was worried about Hyung too until they said that he was going to be olay.” Chan told him. “But that’s not what I’m worried about.” He confessed. “Then what’s wrong?” Hansol asked him. “Hey, I may be one of the younger ones like you and Seungkwan, but I’m still your Hyung, you can talk to me Channie.” He told him. Chan didn’t say anything to him for a couple of minutes, and then spoke up. “There’s this feeling that I’ve been having on and off for months.” Chan told him. “I don’t exactly know how to explain this, but it just feels like there’s something bad, and I mean like really bad about to happen Hansol-Hyung.” And Hansol knew that the kid was being serious since he almost never called him or Seungkwan Hyung half the time. He mainly did it to annoy Seungkwan, and Vernon just didn’t really care after a while, there wasn’t that much of an age difference between them anyway. “Have you told anyone else about this?” Hansol asked him. Chan nodded his head at him. “I told Seugncheol-Hyung,” Chan told him. “He said that he would look into it and whatever happened that we’d work through it.” Chan said. Hansol nodded his head at him, Seungcheol knew what he was doing, and over the years all of the members have learned to trust Chan and his feelings, and Jeonghan’s premonitions. They’ve saved their skins on missions more times than they would like to admit. “But,” Chan said. “I.. I, I really think that this is something that we might not be able to overcome on our own, or at all Hyung.” Chan confessed to him. “And that’s what scares me the most.” 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Seungkwan groaned to himself for what must have been the 10th time that hour. He was bored out of his mind, and was worried about his second family on top of it all. This shift was pacing by so slow. He was pretty sure that at this point a snail was going faster than this was. He wanted to get back to the room to check on Jun, and make sure that Jihoon hadn’t killed Mingyu and Mingaho. Or that he would walk in on the two youngest in the room beside himself making out or anything more graphic. And let’s face it, Seugnkwan might be one of the three youngest of the group, but he wasn’t an idiot or blind. Anyone, even complete strangers knew that Mingyu and Minghao had the hots for each other. It was blatantly obvious to everyone in the world. Well everyone except for Minghao and Mingyu that is. Seungkwan swears that one of these days, he’s just going to get mad and snapp and bash those two idiots heads in. At least then there was a huge chance of it snapping some sense into him. The way that they were pinning after each other was just so stupid, and it was driving Seungkwan up the damn wall and to the ceiling on the next floor! He was just so frustrated with them at this point. And there being the possibility that there’s someone out there trying to kill them all wasn’t helping his mood at all, thank you very much. 

“Seungkwan-ssi?” A small female voice that came from behind snapped Seungkwan out of his head. He turned around in his chair at the front desk to see who it was that wanted his attention. And he was slightly surprised to see Serena Kang standing behind him. It’s not that he didn’t like the girl or anything, they were same age friends and stuff, but they’ve just never been that close. Most of the time if he sees her she’s hanging off of Seokmin like he created the whole universe. It wasn’t that hard for him to tell that the girl had a crush on the older med student. And it was even easier for him to tell that Seokmin had an even bigger crush on her, if that was even possible. So, Seungkwan decided about 2 days after she got here and Seokmin had tripped over a gurney and almost took out the hospital orderlies, again that he was going to play matchmaker. So far it hasn’t really been going like he hoped that it would. Every time that he can get the two of them in a room together one of them ends up tripping over something, or taking someone out. He doesn’t even want to talk about the incident with Boa-Noona, the hospital administrator. That’s something that Seungkwan doesn’t want to repeat ever. 

“Oh! Serena-ah!” Seungkwan said as he got out of his chair to go and greet her. They met in the middle and bowed to each other before going in for a hug. When they pulled apart, Seungkwan was smiling brightly at her. “And how many times must I tell you.” He told her. “We’re same age friends, you have every right to call me Seungkwan, or Kwannie, which is what the Hyungs call me.” Serena just smiled softly at him and nodded. “Yes, well sorry, Kwannie-ah, I guess that it’s just a force of habit.”She told him. She waited a few moments before speaking to him again. “Um,.. is Seokmin-Oppa here today?” She asked him. And Seungkwan had to hold back from rolling his eyes at her. He shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, Joshua-Hyung dragged him home after Seokmin-Hyung had worked a double and Joshua-Hyung worked a triple.” Serena’s eyes got wide at that. “Joshua-ssi worked a triple?!” She asked in pure shock. “Wow, I thought that after what happened last time that Boa-Unnie said that we had to be more careful.” The incident that she was referring too, was about a transfer med student who came to their hospital for a rotation and had worked for 10 days straight without any sleep and had passed out in the operating room. Then a new rule was put in by Boa that they’re limited to how many days that they all work in a row, and they have to sleep, and if she thinks you’re overdoing it, you’re going home, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. And you don’t mess with Boa, it’s like you don’t piss Minghao off when he has his nunchucks in his hands. “Yeah, well, one of our friends got hurt and they stayed over to make sure that he was okay.” He told her. And it wasn’t a complete lie per sey. Jun was hurt, and he was admitted for treatment, and Joshua and Seokmin did stay over to make sure that he was okay, he just didn’t tell her that he had been shot. He’d leave that up to Seokmin if they ever get the chance to tell her what they really do for a living. But that’s a problem for later, they already have too many going on now for Seungkwan to keep track off. 

“Oh my gosh!” Serena said. “I hope that he’s okay.” Seungkwan nodded his head at her. “Yeah, he’s fine now, he’s still here though, but he might get to go home in a couple of days.” He told her. “How did he get hurt? Is there something that I can do to help?” She asked him. “No, no, you’re okay but thank you Serena, but um some of our other friends are with him now and they aren’t the friendliest people to be hanging around.” Seungkwan told her. “And he had jumped on his way home I think.” He lied. “It’s either that or he tripped, I’m not really sure he wasn’t that coherent whenever he came in and Joshua-Hyung had trouble understanding him.” Serena nodded her head, and it looked like that she believed him. “Well, I hope that you can tell your friend that I hope that he gets better and that I’ll be praying for him.” She told him. ANd this was one of the reasons that Seugnkwan was playing matchmaker. She’s so nice and is so Seokmin’s type. “I will, I’m sure that he’ll appreciate it Serena-ah.” He told her. “Rena.” She said. “Huh?” Seungkwan asked her confused. “I said, Rena, it’s my nickname, and only my friends call me that.” She told him. “And since you say we’re friends you can call me that.” She said as she pushed her glasses up with a smile on her face. Seungkwan returned it with equal vigor, and nodded his head.”I guess that I better get going, I still have some patients to tend to.” Serena told him. “Well, I tell both our friend and Seokmin-Hyung that you asked about them.” Seungkwan told her. “See you later Rena.” “See you later Kwannie.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

After coming back from the hospital, Wonwoo was fully ready and prepared to just face plant onto his bed and sleep for a week. What he wasn’t prepared for was one Kwon Soonyoung to come into his room and jump on his back. The younger groaned underneath the added weight and tried to shove the elder off of him. But that only made Soonyoung cling on even more. Wonwoo swears that sometimes Soonyoung is just a koala in a human costume or something. The man can be so clingy sometimes that he just wants to choke him. But now wasn’t the time for those actions or anything. With everything that happened to Jun and the rest of them in the last little bit, he knew that Soonyoung would be dealing with this hard. And he wasn’t the only one though. 

Even though he doesn’t have any concrete proof, Wonwoo just knows that his parents are behind this. It was their company building and casino that they had tried to infiltrate and everything. And it just so happened that his friend got shot because of it. Wonwoo feels extremely guilty about all of this. Jun is his friend and it was his fault that he got shot. He should have never let the older go off alone like that, he should have worked faster, or just quit what he was doing and had gone with him. Then, maybe he wouldn't have gotten hurt. And he knows that there was a chance that it could be him in the hospital right now, or worse. They were lucky that Jun didn’t die, very lucky, and it’s going to be a while before he can get back to himself again, and he hates it for him. It’s times like these that he wishes that he was born into another family. He knows that he can change it but, his family is horrible, they didn’t start out like that though, and that’s the part that makes Wonwoo so pissed off at his parents. They used to be good people who would do anything to help those in need. But when the family business was on the rocks they got desperate and turned to the darker side of the city. And they’ve been in it with every horrible person in this country and some around the world ever since. It just makes him sick. 

“Quit it.” Soonyoung mumbled into his back. Wonwoo raised an eyebrow at that and tried to turn to face the elder. He turned it and it had gotten Soonyoung off guard enough that he fell over onto the bed. The thief let out a soft ‘oof’ as his back made contact with the bed. It didn’t take that long for him to gain his bearings though. He rolled back over and clung onto Wonwoo, who had moved to lay down on his back. “What?” Wonwoo asked him. “I said quit.” Soonyoung repeated. “I’m going to need a little bit more clarification than that Soon.” He told him. He didn’t miss the way that Soonyoung rolled his eyes at him, he seemed to be half asleep. “I mean quit blaming yourself you idiot.” Soonyoung told him. “I swear, for someone so smart you sure can be dense sometimes.” Wonwoo chose not to smack him upside the head for that comment. “And why would I be blaming myself for anything?” Wonwoo asked just to be an ass. And with the glare that Soonyoung was giving him, he had succeeded. “Well, since we went to one of your parent’s buildings to steal from them to take them down and Jun ended up getting shot and almost died.” Soonyoung told him. “And I’d bet all my money in a game of cards against Jeonghan-Hyung that your parents are the ones or are related to the people who hired MingMing to shoot him.” He said. “But that’s not your fault.” And Wonwoo really wishes that he could believe him. 

He really, really did wish that he could believe him, but he just couldn't. It was his fault that he didn't tell the team about his past before. He was always very vague about it whenever someone asked him about his family. He was a shamed of them, that much was obvious to him. The things that his family did and all of the things that they are willing to do to get to their goal and come out on top, just appalled him. He saw what they were doing as immoral and wrong. Wonwoo knew that from a very, very young age that he wouldn't’ end up like them. He would do whatever he could to help those in need get the help that they needed and be nothing like his parents. It’s actually how he got into hacking, and computers and gadgets, which lead him on to meet Seungcheol when they were teenagers. He swore to himself that he would never be like them, and do whatever it would take to stop them from harming the innocent and taking the money and help away from those who needed it. 

“I can’t help but feel responsible for it though.” Wonwoo confessed to him. Soonyoung leaned in closer to snuggle up against him. It was a sign of comfort that Wonwoo very much accepted. “But you didn’t know what they were doing, and you haven’t talked to them in years, Woo, what could you have done differently?” Soonyoung asked him. “I could have gone with him so he didn’t walk into that damn trap alone.” Wonwoo told him. “Yeah, and you get shot, or better yet both of you get shot and die.” Sonnyoung told him. “Great plan.” Wonwoo rolled his eyes at him. “Look, you can’t change the past Wonu-ah, all that you, all that we can do now is help Junnie when he gets home and make sure that all of the people involved in this are stopped and can’t hurt anyone anymore.” Soonyoung told him. And it was times like these that Wonwoo remembers that Soonyoung is way more mature, and mellow than he lets on half the time. He is one of Seugncheol’s second in command after all. And Seungcheol knew what he was doing when he decided this when they formed the team all of those years ago. Soonyoung knew what he was doing, and he was one of the Hyungs that the kids would always go to when something was wrong. “Thanks Soon,” Wonwoo told him. “I needed that.” “Anytime.” Soonyoung replied. “Now sleep or I'm getting Jeonghan-Hyung.”

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Seokmin couldn’t sleep. He tried, he really did, but nothing that he could think of worked. So, he decided to get up and go and get a glass of milk or something. And if that didn’t knock him out then he would just watch tv until he passes out on the couch. He quietly slipped out of his room without waking anyone else up and slipped into the kitchen. It didn’t take him that long to get his milk and drink all of it. When that was done he was still feeling very restless, so he decided to walk around the living room a little bit before he would try to numb his mind with crappy tv shows that only came on during the middle of the night. He hoped that it would work, the Hyungs would kill him if he didn’t sleep tonight. 

He paused in his stroll in front of their living room window. It was positioned to show the street out front of their building and all of the people below them. It was one of the things that Seokmin loved to do to pass time, and it just relaxed him to people watch. But this time something else caught his eye this time. The young med student didn’t get that good of a look at what it was, but he could have sworn that there was a person on the rooftop across the street. Well, he saw a dark figure, but he couldn’t make out what gender it was, or who it was, so he didn’t know anything for sure. But it still creeped him out a lot, though more likely than not, it was all his imagination. With everything that’s been happening in the last little bit, it wouldn't surprise him that he was seeing things that weren’t actually there. He tends to do that when he’s stressed, it was perfectly normal. Stress can make you do crazy things, Jeonghan has night terrors, Jihoon gets grumpy and hits people (Mingyu) with guitars, Minghao uses his nunchucks, and Seokmin hallucinates. That’s just how the world worked. 

He still had this feeling though that something wasn’t right about this. But, he knew that he was too wound up from all the excitement that he just couldn't think straight. He took a chance and went and looked out the window again. Seokmin paid a lot of attention to the rooftop across the street. This time around he couldn’t see anything, but that didn’t mean that whoever or whatever he saw didn’t just walk away from his line of sight. It didn’t help settle the unease that he was feeling though, but he hoped that he was just overthinking things a bit. So, after a couple of minutes of just staring out the window like a crazy person, he decided to go back to his room. He looked out the window one last time, and saw nothing. So he made sure that the window was locked tightly, and closed the curtains. He went and made sure that the security system was armed before heading back to his room. He felt too unsure about watching tv so he just went to bed. And if he didn’t sleep at all that night because of the paranoia, then no one needed to know about it.

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Across town, in a tiny little mom and pop coffee shop, it was very quiet. Though that didn’t surprise the workers that much, after all it was the middle of the week. Normally, it’s dead at this time of the night during the week. And they normally didn’t have that many people on staff at night. At most they had three people on staff. But no one really paid that much attention to anything that happened around them. They didn’t notice that they were being watched from a dark, navy blue van from across the street. The van had been there for about 6 hours now, just watching and waiting. No one had paid the old thing any attention yet, and that was something that the driver was glad for. And with the tinted windows, no one could get a clear look at the driver of the van. 

No one really paid that much attention to what goes on in that part of Seoul. The van had been sitting there for almost two weeks at this point. It didn’t do anything other than sit there and watch. The driver was there for one mission and one mission only. He was there to watch one of the employees of the coffee shop, he was given strict orders as to what he was supposed to do. He was to sit there and watch the boy and wait for the right time to get him. The driver was also given instructions to take pictures of the boy and send them to his employer at the end of every day. So far things have been silent, the boy had a very predictable daily pattern. Comes to work after school at 4:30 pm, and stays there until closing time most of the time even though he gets off two hours before closing every night. It was very tedious to the driver, but he needed the paycheck so he just sucked it up and rolled with it. 

The boy that he was sent there to watch, was a boy by the name of Kim Sameul. He was 17, and was working his way through high school. He also used to be a member of SEVENTEEN when he was a small child. The boy’s father left him and his mother not that long after he was born in the US and the mother took him and fled to Korea. They had a somewhat happy life for a couple of years until the mother was killed in a drive by shooting when he was 6 years old. The man that she had been going out with at the time wasn’t who she thought he was and her decisions ended up with her son being an orphan. Sameul bounced around from place to place for a couple of years until he was about 10 or so. He had run away from his then foster home and just vanished into thin air. It wasn’t long until he was taken in by Choi Seungcheol and the rest of SEVENTEEN. And he stayed there for a couple of years until he left. They weren’t sure why he left, but they did know that the group still kept an eye on him and checked in from time to time. They knew that they could use the boy as a leverage to get them to do what they wanted them to do. They just had to be patient and wait. The time will come soon enough. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things progress, and SEVENTEEN gets some help from some unexpected guests. Things start to get going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! Hope that you guys enjoy! Don't know when the next part is going to come, but I can tell you that things are starting to pick up from here, and I mean it. Have a nice afternoon!   
> -N.

Chapter 15

Jun was sooo bored! He'd been laying in the hospital bed for months at this point. (Okay, it had only been for about 4 days at this point give or take, but the sentiment still stands.) He wanted to move, do things live his young life before he dies! And yes, he knows that if he so much as tries to move one single muscle he's going to have at least 12 pissed off people, if not more busting into the room to beat his ass. But he really just wants to get up and go to the bathroom without any help, is that too much to ask for? Really? He's starting to think that it is at this point. He was really restless and just wanted to be able to move around for a little bit just so he won't go crazy. Though Jun wasn't stupid, he may not be the smartest member in the group, but he knew that he couldn't get better unless he rested like was supposed to. But that didn't mean that he had to like it any, he was so bored out of his mind! Aah!! Though he knew that if he tried anything Minghao, who was asleep in the chair right next to his bed would shoot up in a moment's notice and brandish his nunchucks threateningly as he proceeded to beat the elder with them. Ah, he had to love his little dongsaeng though, he just had to keep from pissing him off.

Speaking of said dongsaeng, it was a cute sight before him. Minghao had pulled up one of the hospital chairs that came with his room (It was those devil little things, made of plastic and were murder on every part of your body if you sat in them too long.) and had pulled it up to the edge of his bed. He had been by his side ever since he woke up a couple of hours ago. The only time that the younger had left was when Jihoon had kicked him and Mingyu out when they were getting on his nerves. They came back a little while ago after Mingyu had dragged Minghao downstairs to get some food into him. Jun could tell that he hadn't eaten and barely slept in a couple of days. Jihoon, along with the fact that the two of them finally confessed to one another (Yeah! But that was something that they were going to discuss more when he got discharged.) had told him that Minghao had taken him getting shot very roughly. Minghao was so out of it, and Mingyu did everything in his power to try and keep him functioning, but it wasn't easy. Minghao could be very difficult when he wanted to be, and he would go out of his way to make it hard to care for him and give whoever was stupid enough to try a very hard time for their troubles. Kim Mingyu was one of the only people that Minghao could pull that on and wouldn't get threatened to get punched. Mingyu would normally just smile at him and try to hug him. Over the years Minghao stopped biting him after a while whenever he tried that. The point that he was trying to make is that, well he's not really sure at the moment. Joshua had told him that the drugs they have him on would make him loopy and hard for him to concentrate on things, guess he was right.

Oh yeah! Now he remembers, he was talking about Minghao. Well, Minghao and now he guesses that he better add Mingyu to that list. Those two have always had this sort of connection with one another, it drove everyone crazy most of the time since all that the two of them used to do was fight, but now they're closer, a lot closer. Most of the interactions that Jun sees between the two of them remind him of how the 95 line are with one another. Yeah, and he's not the only one who has seen the change. This was one of Jeonghan's 'I told you so' moments, since he called their fighting in the early days as sexual tension. The only two of them who haven't seen this are Mingyu and Minghao. Everyone in the group is about ready to bash their heads into a wall. Their chemistry is strong and the tension is 10 times that at least, but yet they still dance around each other like their school children. It was enough to drive all of them crazy. But they love the two of them to death anyway. 

Since he didn't have anything to do and he was bored out of his mind, what better way to pass the time than to analyze his dongsaeng's love life. Mingyu had gone to walk the halls, Jihoon went to go answer a call from Soonyoung, and Seungkwan was busy working, and he couldn't talk to Minghao since the other had crashed and was dead asleep. He loved Minghao like he was his own little brother and he would do anything for the kid, but he was about ready to smack him upside the head. Minghao is also incredibly intelligent and is one of the best at what he does, but when it comes to socialization, things get tricky. Minghao has never been a people person, that much is obvious to anyone who meets him. It takes him a while to be able to warm up to people to where he can act like himself comfortably around people. They have known the kid for years now, but he still has trouble acting non-awkwardly around them. So Jun isn't surprised that he doesn't know what to do about his crush on Mingyu. Minghao hasn't even mentioned anything about it, but he's just that obvious to Jun it's painful. And he knows that Minghao is more likely to punch Mingyu in the face than to tell him his true feelings. He didn't know what he was going to do with that boy!

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Seungcheol was half asleep as he made his way into the kitchen that morning. He had woken up about 20 minutes ago, and was trying to do his very best to hold his bladder so that he wouldn't have to get out of bed. Eventually he lost the battle and silently crawled out of bed to go to the bathroom. He checked that Joshua and Jeonghan were still asleep when he went in, and he found them in the exact same position that they were in 5 minutes ago. He didn't want to take the chance of waking either of them up by going back to bed, the two of them really needed the rest after all the recent excitement. So he decided to just go to the kitchen to get something to eat. Which led him to where he was now. He's pretty sure that a zombie could move faster than he could at the moment. He felt dead at the moment, but not as bad as he felt yesterday. He just really needed some coffee before he was awake and stable enough to be able to deal with anything today. 

He was a little bit surprised to see Wonwoo already up and awake at the kitchen island, drinking a cup of coffee and reading one of his many, many books. It didn't take Wonwoo long to notice the elder walk into the room, he turned his head and saw Seungcheol standing in the doorway and waved at him. "Good morning Hyung." Wonwoo told him. "What are you doing up so early?" He asked him. Seungcheol groaned softly as he went to sit down on the stool next to the younger. "Woke up to use the bathroom, didn't want to wake Shua and Hannie up." Seungcheol said. He put his arms on the table and laid his arms on top of them. "I really need coffee." He moaned into them. He heard Wonwoo huff out a laugh at that. Seungcheol didn't even have the energy in him to be able to get mad at him. He was going through caffeine withdrawal and it wasn't pleasant at the moment. He was so lost in his head that he barely registered Wonwoo getting up from his seat and moving around the kitchen. He did raise his head up though when he heard something being sat down near his head. When he looked up he saw that it was a cup of coffee, and it was then that he realized just how much he loved Wonwoo. But don't tell Joshua or Jeonghan that he said that. 

"Bless you." Seungcheol told him as he accepted the coffee. Wonwoo just laughed at him, and went back to his reading. Once Seungcheol had drunk about half of the cup, he felt more alive than he felt about 5 minutes. Feeling like he could function like a normal adult once again he turned his attention back to his dongsaeng. "What are you doing up?" Seungcheol asked him. Wonwoo was taking a sip out of his coffee mug, and it took him a couple of minutes to answer the leader. "I don't know." Wonwoo told him. "I woke up to Soonyoung on top of me and I got too hot to sleep, so I figured that I better get up." He told him. "It was easier said than done, I know Soonyoung likes to joke about being a tiger and all that, but I swear the man is a koala in a human's skin just so that he can cling onto to people for his pleasure and our torment." Seungcheol laughed at that. Yeah, Soonyoung was known to be a tad bit clingy during a normal situation, and it gets way worse when something stressful happens. It doesn't really surprise him that Soonyoung had gone to Wonwoo to seek out some comfort for the night. The two of them have always been relatively close with each other, and often Soonyoung goes to Wonwoo whenever one of them or Jihoon aren't available to help him. 

The two of them spent the next half hour or so just sitting there at the counter and enjoyed their drinks in peace. "Hyung?" Wonwoo asked him after a while. Seungcheol hummed in response to him and turned his head to look over at his dongsaeng. "Yeah, what's wrong Wonu-ah?" Seungcheol asked him. Wonwoo bit his lip and Seungcheol could tell that he was taking his time trying to figure out how he wanted to word his question so that he could get the answer or answers that he wanted. It took him a couple of minutes to gather his thoughts and to organize them enough to where he could talk to Seungcheol. "What happened at the hospital Hyung?" Wonwoo asked him. Seungcheol wasn't the least bit surprised by the question. He knew that sooner or later that someone was going to ask him about his phone call at the hospital. After all he had disappeared for almost an hour, and had sent Wonwoo a very cryptic text, telling him to come and get him if he didn't come back within a certain timeframe. And when Wonwoo had found him, he was alone in one of the rooms that was being renovated. It sure is something that would make anybody worried who would walk into that mess. And he knew going in that he would eventually have to tell everyone what went down with MingMing anyway. Out of all of them Wonwoo would be one of the ones to handle it the best, so it was now or never. "I went to see MingMing." He told him. And that was when all Hell broke loose.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You what?!" Wonwoo asked him. And with how big his eyes had gotten Seungcheol was surprised that they didn't fall out of his head. But he didn't act as bad as he thought that he would. "Yes, I met with MingMing." Seungcheol told him. "That was who texted me to meet them, and it was also the same thing that I saw the night that Junnie was admitted and went to go and check out." Seungcheol explained to him. Wonwoo was just awestruck at that, the guy that shot his friend and almost killed him, snuck back into the hospital that he was in not once, but twice! And what did he want to talk to Seungcheol about anyways. "What did he want?" Wonwoo finally asked him after a while. "Believe it or not he said that he wanted to help us." Seungcheol told him. And he was right Wonwoo didn't believe him, and he told his leader so. "You're right Hyung, I don't believe it." Wonwoo told him. "Did he do or say anything that can lead us to trust him?" He said. "He shot Jun for God's sake and almost killed him!" He told the older man. 

Seungcheol nodded his head at him. "You're right." Seungcheol told him. "But, he gave me a flash drive with information on it, I was going to give it to you when we woke up today." He told him. Seungcheol went digging around in the pants pocket of his pair of his sweatpants. It took him a couple of seconds before he was able to find it. He pulled it out and put it on the counter between the two of them. Wonwoo just looked at it in a mixture of shock and awe. He couldn't believe it! He just didn't know what to think. At first he thought that his parents had just hired MingMing to shoot Jun to get them to back off and try to get him to come home. But if what MingMing had told Seungcheol was true, then that means that there's more to this than meets the eye. And more likely than not, they're involved in something bigger than they ever thought that it was. And that scared him more than anything ever could have. What have they gotten themselves into? 

"Talk." Was all that Wonwoo could tell him. Seungcheol knew that Wonwoo wanted answers, and that he was just done with everything at the moment. He knew that Wonwoo meant well but, he couldn't help but flinch a little bit at the harshness of his tone. "Alright." Seungcheol told him. "I'll tell you everything Wonu-ah." He told him. "But bare with me here kid."

************************************

**_And thus, Seungcheol began to recount to the younger the encounter that he had with MingMing at the hospital. Along with all of the information that MingMing told him._ **

_"So, how concerned do we have to be about the people that you work for ?" Seungcheol questioned MingMing. They were talking long enough for Seungcheol to start to believe his story. But he still couldn't trust the man as far as he could throw him. "Very." MingMing told him. "They are even more dangerous than you can imagine and they have me completely scared shitless." He told him. "And you know after everything that Jun and I have seen that's saying something." Seungcheol was taken aback by that. Jun, Minghao and MingMing when he was with them, rarely, if ever talked about their time in "The Agency" before they joined them. And from what little they will say about it, their time there was anything but pleasant. "My God." Seungcheol finally said. "What have we gotten ourselves into Ming?" Seungcheol asked him. "I don't know Hyung, all that I can tell you is that these people are dangerous, ruthless, and will do anything to get to their target." MingMing told him. "And as of right now, that target is SEVENTEEN." He said. "And they won't stop until they get whatever it is that they want from you."_

**He just hopes that Wonwoo can understand it enough, and keep himself level headed so that they can try to go and figure out what to do.**

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Wonwoo was freaked out, more like overwhelmed for lack of a better term. It was a lot to process all of this new information that Seungcheol had just told him about. Someone was after them? And there was a good chance that they were either attached to his parent's or 'The Agency' that Mingaho, Jun, and MingMing had come from. He just didn't know what to do with all of it. His emotions were all over the place, and it just was making all of this more difficult than what it probably should be. "Hyung?" Wonwoo said after a while. Seungcheol was surprised that he didn't take longer to say something than he thought that he would. "Yes, Wonu-ah?" Seungcheol said. "What the Hell have we gotten ourselves into?" Wonwoo asked him. And he said in such a deadpan voice that Seungcheol almost started to laugh, keyword almost. Now wasn't the time, and Wonwoo would probably punch him if he tried to. "I don't know Won." Seungcheol told him. "I really don't know." And that was the God's honest truth.

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It seemed like forever before the next day came. After the couple of days of him being knocked out from the painkillers he wasn't really tired. Well, he was but not like that. He's slept so much in the past couple of days that he was tired of sleeping. He was still exhausted and sore, sure, but overall he just really wanted to get up and move! He was soo tired of just laying in bed all day. And the IV wasn't doing anything to help his movements, but Seungkwan had told him that it had to stay in until he got the all clear from either Joshua or Solar. So he was just stuck here until then. And knowing the two of them, he knows that it's going to be awhile before he's aloud to take the stupid thing out. But at least he's not alone in the hospital. It's early morning now, and the sun hasn't even come up yet it was so early. Jihoon had fallen asleep in the chair that he had pulled up to his beside. He had taken over the spot that Minghao had once occupied earlier in the evening. When Jihoon and Mingyu had come back to the room, Mingyu had moved Minghao over to the cot that was still in the room. He was dead asleep and didn't even stir once when he was picked up and tucked in. Mingyu ended up laying down beside him when Mingaho had reached out for him in his sleep. He had just given in and in a matter of minutes he was dead asleep as well. And they've been like that ever since, and it was about 3 hours ago. He'll say it again, he's soo, soo bored. 

Groaning softly to himself, Jun redirected his attention back to the tv in his room instead of the ceiling of the room. He was so bored, and it was only worse since he was the only one awake at the moment. Jun was really hoping that if he watched enough of the mind-numbing tv shows that his brian will become squished enough that he'll just pass out cold. So far he's not that lucky, and all that it's done is keep him awake. He would turn it off, but he couldn't find the remote, and even if he did then it wouldn't do any good. Turning the tv off wouldn't do him any good, it would only just make him even more jumpier than usual. He didn't want to wake up one of the others to entertain him. They needed the sleep more than he did at the moment. They had barely slept for the past couple of days. And Jeonghan almost collapsed because he was so worried about him, and Minghao wasn't too far behind him. So that just left him alone unto his thoughts. 

All that he could think of was MingMing. Why? Why did he do it? Why did he shoot him? All of these questions were buzzing around in his mind like crazy. It was spinning so fast that Jun was having a very hard time trying to keep up. He just didn't understand why it had happened. Growing up together in the agency, for the longest time they were the only family that they had. Until they met the team it was just the two of them. When Seungcheol invited them to join the group Jun was ecstatic, MingMing was a little more cautious about it though. But that was just him. MingMing was the more cynical, and cautious one out of the two of them. He always thought that everyone was out to get him, or harm one of them. It took him forever to be able to trust any of the others, and even then he was always on the lookout in case one of them tried anything. But they were making great progress on it though, or at least Jun thought that they were. Then he woke up one night to go and get a drink of water and had stumbled upon MingMing sneaking off into the night. He tried to make him stay or to convince him to wait so that they could go together, but MingMing wouldn't hear of it.. He told Jun that it was done, their friendship, their brotherhood was done and to just forget that the other existed and that was the last time that he saw him until a couple of days ago. He was never the same since then.

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Jeonghan was so warm, content, and safe. He hasn't slept this good in ages, and he was loving it. The past couple of days have zapped him out of most of his energy. After his pregnancy scare and his mini meltdown afterwards, he was just dead on his feet. Though that was how he started out the day also. So when Joshua and Seungcheol just wrapped him up in their arms, he conked out fast. He's pretty sure that he slept all night long, he doesn't remember waking up any throughout the night. And as he was coming into consciousness, he actually felt alive. He didn't feel nauseous, or anything, the only thing that he felt was tired. But if he had to he could get up. At the moment though all that he wants to do is go to sleep. And he was very content to do just that at the moment. 

Just when he thought that he was ready to drift back off to sleep, he felt shifting in the bed. Jeonghan groaned and peeled open his eyes. He saw that Joshua was trying and failing to slip out of bed without waking him up. He looked kind of guilty that he got caught, but he still smirked at him when he noticed that Jeongahn was awake. "Hey Hannie." Joshua said. "Sorry, but I really have to pee, and there's no Seungcheol to roll you over to this time to keep you asleep." He told him. Jeonghan just mumbled in response. He let Joshua get up to go to the bathroom, while he rolled over in the bed. This was the first time that he was noticing that Seungcheol was no longer in the bed with them. He was a little worried at first since it wasn't like Seungcheol to just get up and go somewhere without telling them where he was going. He hoped that the older was okay if he wasn't still in the apartment though. After last night, he really doesn't feel that comfortable having either one of them out of his sight lines for the foreseeable future. 

"Shua?" Jeonghan called from the bed. He heard a grunt coming from the bathroom which signaled that he was heard. "Do you know where Cheol went?" He asked him. "I don't know." Joshua called over him, flushing the toilet. "He was gone when I woke up, I just figured that he's probably out in the living room or something." He said. Jeonghan's nerves were settled a little bit after hearing that. "Okay, um, well... um" Jeonghan said. He didn't know how he was supposed to do this. He knew that logically, Seungcheol wouldn't leave the apartment to go anywhere without telling someone, especially the two of them. But there was this nagging voice in the back of his mind telling him that something wrong was about to happen if he didn't find Seungcheol right now. He knew that he was being irrational and everything but he just couldn't help but to worry about him. 

"You want to go and look for him don't you?" Joshua asked as he walked back into the room. Jeonghan jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to look at the younger. "Please." He said in a small voice. He was embarrassed about it, and he knew that he shouldn't because it was just Shua. But everything was just so screwed up with him lately that he didn't know what to think and it was stressing him out. Joshua just smiled as he walked over to the bed to sit down next to him and brush some strands of hair out of his eyes. "Hey, no, don't even think about it." Joshua told. "Don't think about what?" Jeonghan asked him. "I know that look, and no, it's a problem to be concerned about someone." Joshua told him. "We've been through it these past weeks and it's perfectly okay for you to not to be okay Jeonghan-ah." The young med student told him. "You're only human babe." He said. Jeongha leaned his head down on the younger's shoulder and closed his eyes for a couple of seconds. He knew that the other was right, but things are just so screwed up inside his mind at the moment he didn't know what to do with it. "Why don't we go ahead and look for Seungcheol?" Joshua said. "Then we can start on some breakfast for the kids, how does that sound?" Jeonghan nodded his head and off they went to go and look for their third lover.

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Meanwhile across the city....

In a nice-ish apartment across the city, there lived another group of do-gooders isn't the correct term for it. But they do sort of the same thing as SEVENTEEN, just they're more established with less people. Bangtan has been around for a couple of more years than SEVENTEEN has been around. Even though their leader RM has been in the game longer than any of them. It all started about 40-50ish years ago with his grandparents. His great-grandfather wasn't the nicest man alive, and really didn't have that high opinion of other humans. But he did have one kid, RM or Kim Namjoon as his birth certificate says's grandfather. His grandfather hated his own father, he was an abusive drunk son of a bitch that made his and his mother's life a living Hell. His great- grandfather passed away a couple of months before Namjoon's own father was born. And from that day on, his grandfather had made the promise to make this world a better place for his son and everyone else. And so he started to do things differently than what his own father had done. His grandfather wanted less violence, and more peace and a sense of community in the world. It's something that he started, and has gone one from generation to generation. And currently the group is in Namjoon's control. 

Namjoon's been in control of the family business since he was about 16, when his father passed away from a terrible car accident. His mother didn't want to take over and his sister was too young. So his grandfather took over in a sense until his grandson came of age to take over officially. And along the way, he's picked up some people from here and there to join. Some stayed, others not so much, but out of all of them he's grown the closet to 6 of them. He actually lives with them all in an apartment that they rent in one of the quieter parts of the city. First, there was his one and only Kim Seokjin, or "Jin" as everyone called him. Namjoon met Jin when they were tweens. Jin's father was one of the men that his father had recruited to make the business more on the straight and narrow. The two of them became fast friends and have been with each other ever since, though it took a while to get Jin to join. At first he wanted to become an actor, but when Joon's father passed away he dropped everything to help his friend out. He's been with them ever since. Nothing had changed their relationship over the years, not even Jin testing positive as a male carrier when they were in high school. They loved each other and would do anything to take care of the people that have now become their family. 

Next up was the man that he started all of this with. When Namjoon met Min Yoongi, or 'Suga', he was utterly and deathly terrified of the man. Yoongi was not a Seoul native, and had just gotten off a train ride from Daegu. He had come to Seoul to try and get a halfway decent job to support himself and to try to get himself as far away from his family as possible. The night that they met, Namjoon walked in on Yoongi when he was in the middle of getting mugged. Or, the three guys that jumped him tried to mug him, but it didn't take. Yoongi had taken all of them out by himself, he broke two of their noses, and the last one's arm. When Namjoon had walked up to him to see if the elder was alright, Yoongi pulled out a knife and tried to stab him. Once Joon was able to get him to understand that he meant him no harm and just wanted to see that he was okay, things got better sort of. Since Yoongi had no place to stay, he was able to convince the pale boy to come and stay the night with him. At first things between the two of them weren't the best but overtime Yoongi felt more comfortable and started to open up to him. And when Joon had realized that his new Hyung was good with computers, they've been together ever since. Speaking of Yoongi, the next person that he met who really helped him set up what is now their little gang, was one Jung Hoseok, or 'j-hope.' Hoseok was a street dancer from Gwangju, who was trying to start his own crew. But, only a few months into his stay at Seoul, he witnessed something that he shouldn't have. And he would have ended up at the bottom of the Han River if Namjoon hadn't stepped in.They got to talking with one another and realized that they were same age friends, and they've been together ever since. Though when he brought him back to meet Yoongi things were tense. Because of his violent past Yoongi was very wary around new people. Hoseok wasn't one to give up though, after a couple of months he was able to wear the older down. And not too long after that, they fell in love with each other. He can remember Yoongi crying when he had told Hoseok that he was a male carrier and he didn't even bat an eye at him. And now they were trying to have a baby of their own. And he was happy for his friends, they deserved to be happy. 

The last three to join their little team were their maknaes, Park Jimin, Kim, Taehyung and Jeon Jeongguk. Both Jimin and Jeongguk were male carriers that were rejected from their families once the test results came back. And they had nowhere else to go. Both of the boys came from Busan and had run away to Seoul to try and start over. Jimin was only about 16, while Jeongguk had just turned 14.They had met on their way to Seoul and became close with each other and made vows to protect each other no matter what. They were kids who were living on the street, and Jin was lucky enough to just be walking down the streets in one of the shadier parts of the city visiting his grandmother (He told her she needed to be somewhere safer but she never listened to him.) and saw the two of them. Jin being Jin stepped in and told the both of them that they were going to come home with him. That was years ago and they haven't left ever since. Which just happened to leave their most unusual member Taehyung or 'V.' How he came up with that name they still aren't really sure. Taehyung was also born in Daegu, but his family had moved around a lot when he was little. Though when his grandmother who raised him had passed, his family was swarming in debt. Taehyung being the eldest grandchild and the good guy that he is left for Seoul to try and find work to help get his family out of trouble. He was introduced to the group through Jimin. The two of them had met on the street late at night a couple of months after Jimin had joined the group. The same shady guys who had tried to jump Yoongi a couple of years before him tried to do the same thing with Jimin. Taehyung had walked in on it and put a stop to it. He ended up getting hurt, nothing too bad, but enough to freak him out pretty bad. So Jimin took him home and hasn't allowed him to leave since then. The three maknaes of the group have a complicated relationship that Namjoon really doesn't need the details on so he just doesn't ask and they don't do it to where the neighbors can hear them and call the cops. A win, win for everybody. 

The 7 of them have been doing what they can to help out the city ever since. Namjoon was their leader, straegits, and muscle when needed. Though he's more likely to either break himself, one of them or an inanimate object rather than the bad guy, but being the 'God of Destruction" can come with some perks every now and again. Yoongi was another one for strategy, and he was the best hacker out of all of them, and he has a very good poker face that Jin uses on missions whenever he can. Jin's acting skills makes him one of the best grifters that Joon has ever seen. And with how attractive he is, Jin can make anyone believe anything that you are told by him, plus he's way stronger than people think he is and he's the perfect muscle. Though Yoongi is a horrible liar, you can always tell when he tries, he starts talking faster than Speedy Gonzalas. Hoseok can bend his body in ways that Namjoon can't even comprehend, and he's good at sleight of hand stuff, making him the perfect thief. Him and Jimin normally take over that department of all of their jobs. Speaking of Jimin, he's also very flexible and before he got to them, he got money by pickpocketing. The two of them are excellent thieves and they can slip in and out of almost any place without being detected. Taehyung was also an incredible grifter like Jin. He's looks just have people so distracted that the marks forget what they're supposed to be doing and thus giving them all a win. Taehyung can also read a situation and can figure out ways to get the team out when things go south. And that just left Jeongguk. The kid is good at everything and anything that they let the kid do. Strategy, muscle, hacking, theft, grifting, and any weapon that you give the kid, he can figure out how to use it in a matter of minutes. They don't call him the Golden Maknae for nothing. And he loves his Hyungs more than anything in the world and would do whatever it took to protect them at all costs.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Yoongi groaned and shifted around in bed, he wasn't sure how long he was asleep or why he woke up. But one thing was for certain, he wanted to go back to sleep. He had been up most of the night working on this new program of his. It was designed to try and let them into other people's systems faster, while simultaneously protecting their own network from hackers. He had been working on it for hours in the office, until Hoseok had barged in and dragged him back to bed. He practically collapsed and has been asleep ever since. Groaning again, Yoongi climbed out of bed when he realized that he wasn't going back to sleep any time soon. He looked around the room and pulled on a sweatshirt that belonged to Hoseok and walked out of the room. He had no idea what time it was and he couldn't use his phone to check the time since he had no idea what happened to it. Hoseok had confiscated it from him after he barged into the office to drag him to bed. He didn't really mind though, he just wanted it back so that he can call his brother and keep up with his cycle charts. So far, it seemed that he was a couple of days late, and they were hoping that it meant what they hoped that it meant. Though he hasn't told anyone but Jimin and Jeongguk yet. He wanted to be sure and not get his boyfriend's hopes up so he's kept his mouth shut. They've been trying for months and so far nothing's happened, he knew that this stuff could take some time but he was still worried that there might be something wrong with him and that was why this wasn't working. He just didn't want to break his own heart as much as he didn't want to break Hoseok's. 

Yoongi walked out of the room and down the hallway to the kitchen. He wasn't really that hungry, but he knew that if Jin didn't see him eat at least something small he'll have his head. Overall he felt like an absolute zombie, and really just wanted to go back to bed. He had decided that if they weren't doing anything productive then he was dragging Hoseok back to bed so that he could cuddle him to sleep. Hoseok made a very good pillow and it's gotten to the point that Yoongi can't go to sleep at night unless he's touching him in some way. On his way down the hallway, the bathroom door opened before him and he almost ended up running into Jimin. "Hey Yoongi-Hyung!" Jimin greeted him. "It's about time you woke up." Jimin told him. "Jin-Hyung was about ready to send Taetae in to go and wake you up." Yoongi rolled his eyes at that. If a member slept in so late then Jin would send one of the maknaes, mostly Taehyung in to wake them up. Taehyung took too much joy in it and on more than one occasion almost ended up with a black eye or two. "M'fine." Yoongi told him. "Where's Seok-ah?" He asked the younger. "Oh, Hobi-Hyung's in the kitchen with Joonie-Hyung and the rest of them, I think they're going over the plan for our next job." Jimin told him as they walked down the hallway together. Yoongi nodded his head, as they made their way to the kitchen. It wasn't unusual for him not to be involved in planning their jobs, but more likely than not he was, but Hoseok probably told them all not to so that he could sleep. God, he loved that man so much. 

It didn't take them that long until they both reached the kitchen where everyone else was at the moment. When they entered the room everyone was busy doing something. Jin was at the stove top cooking, Yoongi didn't know what. The two maknaes were huddled up together over what appeared to be Taehyung's phone playing some sort of game, Jimin walked right over to them and started to watch what they were doing. Yoongi shook his head at the youngest three and turned his head to the two 94 liners. Namjoon and Hoseoak had their heads bent over what appeared to be a set of blueprints to something. Yoongi made his way over to his lover and his best friend to see what they were up to. He sat down on Hoseok's free side and laid his head on the younger's shoulder. He felt Hoseok jump a little bit at the surprise contact but quickly settled when he realized that it was Yoongi. Instead he put an arm around the elder and held him close, as he turned his attention back to the task at hand after giving him a peck on the head. It wasn't that long before Yoongi drifted back off to sleep again. 

Yoongi woke up when he heard something being placed down on the kitchen table. He jolted awake in Hoseok's grasp and it took him a minute to remember where he was. Once his vision was cleared he realized that Jin was placing bowls of something in front of all of them. From the looks of it was rice porridge he thinks but he wasn't so sure about that. When the smell of the dish hit him, Yoongi could feel his stomach start to turn, and even though he didn't eat a whole lot compared to the rest of the others, he still had a strong stomach when it came to most foods. But there was just something about the porridge that was making him nauseous. He didn't want to cause a scene so he just sucked it up. Once everyone had their food, they started to eat their breakfast (Yoongi realized that it was only 8 AM and he wanted to just die, he had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep in total.) there was still some light conversation going on amongst everyone else. Yoongi for the most part was just pushing his food around, since the longer that he was around the food, the worse that he felt. At one point Hoseok leaned over and whispered into his ear. "Are you okay Hyung? You don't look so good." Yoongi didn't say anything and just waved him off. He was fine, there was nothing wrong he just needed some more sleep. He felt absolutely awful but he didn't want anyone to worry about him. 

He lasted about 5 more minutes before he couldn't take it anymore. Hoseok and Jin were giving him weird looks, so he figured that he might as well try to act like that they were okay. He put a small spoonful of porridge in his mouth, it tasted like ash and it wasn't long before he felt his gag reflex activate. He dropped his spoon in his bowl, clamped a hand over his mouth and dashed into the kitchen to vomit into the sink since he knew that he couldn't make it to the bathroom. He really wasn't paying that much attention to what was going on around him. But he was aware enough to know that Hoseok was right behind him as he went to go and puke his guts out into the sink. It was a good thing that the sink was empty or Jin would have had his head. Not that long after he started he felt a hand on the back of his neck trying to offer him some sort of comfort. He felt bad because he knew that it was Hoseok and at least Jin were hovering around him. And Hoseok was a horrible sympathy puker and he felt awful that he was doing this in front of him. He knew that this was going to be a very, very, long day.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

The next thing that Yoongi knew he was laying down on the couch and he was in someone's lap. It took him a moment to realize that it was Jeongguk's. He opened his eyes and saw Jeongguk's head hanging upside down over top of him, it kind of made his head spun but he was too tired to care at the moment, and he was more concerned with the look of worry on the younger man's face. "Are you okay Hyung?" He heard Jimin ask as his head moved into his line of sight. Yoongi just groaned in response, and it wasn't long before he heard Taehyung come into the room with a cool towel. "Where are the rest of the Hyungs?" Jimin asked him softly. "Jin-Hyung went to get the first aid kit and he had Namjoon-Hyung take Hobi-Hyung to look for the thermometer." He told them. And the only reason that Yoongi wasn't getting up and springing to go and get his lover was because Jeongguk was holding him down so he wouldn't over exert himself. The maknae knew him too well for this to have worked. He knew that it was no use to fight it since even though he was a carrier Jeongguk was the strongest one out of all of them. "How is he?" he decided to ask instead. And all of them knew who he was talking about. "He looked a little pale, but other than that he's okay, I'm pretty sure that Hyung was too worried about you to focus on his own discomfort." Jeongguk told him. Yoongi nodded his head and for once the whole world didn't spin around him when he did it. 

It wasn't that long later when the other three members of their group came back into the room. Jin came in first with the first aid kit and other medical supplies in his hands. Namjoon and Hoseok weren't that far behind him though. And Jeongguk was right, Hoseok actually didn't look that bad for the most part. He seemed a little bit paler than was the normal but other than that he was okay. "Yoongi-ah," Jin called softly as he and Jimin switched places so that he would get a look at him. Aside from being their leader grifter, Jin was also a very skilled medic, his grandmother was a nurse and really wanted him to be a doctor. He wasn't a legal one but he still ended up doing what she wanted him to do in the end. "How are you feeling?" The elder asked him. "Why didn't you say something about not feeling well?" He nagged. Yoongi just shrugged in response. "I don't know Hyung, I felt fine when I woke up, it just came on all of a sudden." he told them. And it wasn't like he was lying per sey, he just wasn't telling them all of the truth. Jin tutted as he began his examination of the younger. It only took about 15 minutes before Jin cleared him and figured that he had just picked up some sort of virus, or his anxiety and stress levels were up or something. He told him to stay put for a little while longer just to make sure that he was okay before they moved him back to his and Hoseok's bedroom. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Leaving the maknaes to tend to their alling Hyung, the three eldest that were still well enough to function went over to the kitchen to talk. "Do you think?" Namjoon asked after a couple of minutes. "I don't know Joon-ah, he could be, but I can't tell anyone of you for sure." Jin told him. Sighing, Joon went on and pulled out his phone to see updates on the real reason why he had called the two of them into the kitchen. "Any news?" Hoseok was the first to ask him. "Nothing yet Hobi." He told him. "I sent the kids out to see if they saw or heard anything." He said. "Soobin-ah hasn't found anything yet, though Beomgyu-ah has tried to convince him to adopt every stray dog they meet on the street." That illected a laugh out of the other two. Their little junior group TXT came around recently.The group was made up of Namjoon's little cousin Soobin, his little brother Beomgyu and 3 of their friends. Though Soobin and Beomgyu are basically his little brothers. Their mother is his mother's little sister, she got pregnant with Soobin when she was in high school and vanished off of the face of the Earth. It had broken his mother's heart. And it wasn't until years later when he was a small child that his father started to search for her. He found her hiding out in Daegu, she wasn't the same anyone. She was a junkie and a prostitute, and all of the men that she brought in and out of her life were very abusive not only towards her but to the boys, Beomgyu especially. Namjoon was about 8 years old when his father sat him and his little sister down to discuss something. He had explained to them that he had found their aunt and that she wasn't doing too good. Their father had informed them that because she wasn't doing well that their little cousins were going to come live with them for a little while. Namjoon was happy about that, he remembered Soobin from when he was an infant and always wanted to play with him but never got the chance before he was taken away. When their mother had brought the two of them into the room, Namjoon was in love. Soobin stood slightly behind their mother, he was so much taller than he remembered him, and he was only 3 at the time, and he had pushed Beomgyu behind him, and the younger boy was clinging onto his older brother's arms. It was a cute sight. His sister loved that she got to be a Noona and was no longer the baby of the family anymore. She ran right up to Soobin and hugged him. And they've been with their family ever since. And it wouldn't be until years later that Namjoon would come to find out that by the time that his father had gotten there his aunt was already dead. He walked into her horrible apartment to find Soobin trying to defend his baby brother against one of their mother's "friends." It made him sick. 

“Has Mingyu-ssi updated Kookie any?” Namjoon asked. Both of the other’s in the room shook their heads at them. Their group had heard about what had happened to SEVENTEEN, and it was just awful. Thankfully, Jeongguk and Mingyu had kept in touch after the last time that they had met with each other. Mingyu had texted their maknae and told him what happened to his Jun-Hyung. Kook had run out of his room and into the office that night crying and had flung himself at the first Hyung available to him in the room. And that just so happened to be Yoongi. It took over 30 minutes for them to calm the youngest down enough to where he was able to explain what had happened. Something about it didn’t set right with the leader, and even though he’s not that close with some of the members of the other team, he just wasn’t going to stand by and let someone else get hurt. So he had called up Soobin and asked his little cousin if him and his team could do him a little favor. The kids were just supposed to go around and see if they could get any information on MingMing, or the agency that Jun and The8 had come from in China, or anyone else putting out a hit on the team or its members. So far they haven’t found anything yet, but it was only a matter of time. Even though they’re young and they look like babies, TXT knows what they’re doing, after all it’s run by Namjoon’s little cousin after all. “I told Kookie to come and find me when he does though.” Namjoon told them. “The last time that he had texted Kook, he told him that Jun had woken up, they’re just waiting until he’s deemed well enough to be discharged at this point.” 

Namjoon didn’t miss out how nervous Hoseok was, or how he kept glancing back to the living room to see if Yoongi needed him. “Go on Hobi.” Namjoon told him. Hoseok turned around to look at their leader. “Go on Hoseok-ah, we’re not doing anything at the moment, and you’re worried about him.” Namjoon told him. “Go on.” He made shooing motions with his arms as he ushered his friend out of the kitchen. Eventually Hoseok left and went back over to the couch to where the maknaes and the second eldest were. And that just left Jin and Namjoon alone in the kitchen together. The two of them didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes before Namjoon broke the silence. “Yoongi-Hyung’s pregnant isn’t he?” Namjoon asked him. Jin didn’t say anything to him at first, but after a couple of minutes he did. “I don’t know Joonie.” Jin told him. “You’re Mr. 148 IQ, you tell me?” And that was enough to answer the leader’s question. “Okay, do you think that we’d be putting him in danger by helping out Seungcheol-ssi’s team?” He asked him instead. “I don’t know Joon, I really don’t know.” Jin told him. “But if this is what you and Binnie-ah think it is then whoever it is is taking out all of us.” Jin said. “It’ll only be a matter of time before they come after us regardless whether we helped them or not.” And this was when it dawned on him why he asked Jin to join. He was the voice of reason and always knew how to calm him down in serious situations to get him back down to Earth. And he loved him for that. Namjoon glanced down at Jin’s hand and saw the ring that was on his left hand. He had proposed to him and put that ring on his hand months ago, and it was one of the few decisions that he didn’t regret. And he knew that it would kill him if anything ever happened to the elder. 

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Later that night when all of them had gone to bed, Namjoon was woken up by a call on his cellphone. Scrambling around to try and find it to answer it before Jin had his head, he wasn’t having that much luck. Eventually he found it and went to answer it. He was half asleep and he didn’t even bother to check the caller ID. “‘Ello..?” He answered the phone. He knew that it probably wasn't the best idea to be doing this half asleep and probably wasn’t the most professional, but looking at the clock and seeing that it was 3 AM, he really didn’t care. “Hyung?” Namjoon was immediately more awake when he heard his little cousin’s voice on the other end of the line. “Binnie, what’s wrong?” Namjoon asked, all of the worst case scenarios were running through his head at the moment. “Nothing Hyung.” Soobin told him. “I just called to tell you that I think we might have found a lead on what happened to one of Jungkook-Hyung’s friends.” The younger one told him. Namjoon perked up at that. “Really? What did you find?” He asked the younger leader. “I’m not really sure to tell you the truth Hyung, but Yeonjun-Hyung thinks that he heard talk about what happened to Jun-ssi.” Soobin told him. “And Taehyun-ah is coming through all of the security camera footage that he can get his hands on to try and find MingMing.” He said. “NingNing-ah thinks that he’s found some people that have said that they’ve seen someone around Seoul who matches MingMing’s description.” He told him. “That’s all that we have for now that’s solid-ish.” 

Namjoon humed to himself on the other end of the line. “How is the other thing that I asked you about coming along then?” He asked him.”I have Gyuie on it, so far I don’t think that he’s come up with anything.” Soobin told him. “This agency that Jun-ssi and The8-ssi came from are very secretive and they put more protection and security measures on their stuff than Yoongi-Hyung does and that’s saying something.” Soobin told him. “But you know my baby brother, he’s like a dog with a bone, once he’s given something to do he won’t stop until he has completed whatever it was until he’s satisfied.” Namjoon laughed at that. It’s true his baby cousin is one who’s known for working himself to the bone on a task and not stopping until he’s completely satisfied and it meets his standards. It’s part of the reason that he was the top student of his class in school. The kid was a genius. And part of the reason that he had given Soobin that task was so that he could give it to Beomgyu to do since he wasn’t allowed in the field at the moment. The kid had fallen and messed up his ankle a week ago and while it wasn’t too serious, Jin had told him to rest and not to over exert himself on it. “We even asked Jackson-Hyung if he knew anything about it.” Soobin said. “And I know that he wasn’t in it, but he knew about it and the day that JYP-min found him, he was trying to be recruited by him.” And man, he has to give the kids props for that. He hadn’t even thought to ask his best friend if he knew anything about the people that they could be dealing with. “You did a good job Binnie.” Joon told him. “Now, go to sleep, it’s late and you guys have been working hard okay.” He said. He heard the younger boy sigh on the other end, but he knew that he wouldn't argue with him. “Okay, Hyung, goodnight, I love you.” Soobin told him. And Namjoon couldn’t help the small smile that broke across his face at that. “Goodnight Binnie, I love you and Gyuie too alright?” Namjoon said. “And say hello to you little boyfriend Yeonjunie for me!” He said in an overly sweet voice before he hung up on him so that Soobin couldn’t complain to him. 

The man chuckled to himself as he hung up and settled back into bed. God, he loved to mess with his little cousin, Soobin always made it too easy for him to do it to him. And he wasn’t an idiot, he knew that his little cousin had a crush on his best friend Yeonjun, and he also knew that the older boy liked his little cousin. And he had already given the boy a talk about what would become of him if anything ever happened to his baby cousin too. He knows that Yeonjun would never lay a hand on Soobin, but you know he just liked to scare people, it was fun. And it dawns on him that he’s spent too much time around Jin. He turned over in bed and wrapped his arms back around the elder. Surprisingly Jin had slept through the whole conversation with the younger. But even with Jin in his arms and knowing that the rest of his family was safe either in the apartment with him or in another one about 5 minutes down the road (He’d be crazy to let Soobin and his team out of his sight, or Jin would have his head!) there was something wrong. He just had this feeling about the situation. He had no problem helping out Jeongguk’s friend's team, even though they haven’t asked for their help yet, he’s still willing to do it. Before he had only known SEVENTEEN by their reputation and the fact that they wanted to help people like Bangtan, TXT, GOT7, Stray Kids, and NU’EST wanted to do. And he’s heard many things about their leader S.Coups, but regardless of all of the gossip that’s surrounding them, he wanted to help. He had no idea what he'd gotten himself into, and he had no idea what’s going to happen, but he wanted to help. He needed to help them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! We got some BTS and some TXT in there, along with a Stray Kids, and GOT7, and NU'EST mentions. Don't worry tags will be updated soon.   
> -N.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jun get's to come home. We see into the lives of some other groups and Seungkwan really wants to kill Vernon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!   
> -N.

Chapter 16

Jun was so excited! He's officially spent a week in the hospital, and now Joshua and Solar were performing the test that informed him on whether he got to go home today or not. He was really hoping that he would. He had been doing his breathing exercises, and physical therapy and everything. He hasn't complained once(To any of the med students) and did everything that was asked of him. He really hoped that it was enough for them to let him come home. And yes he knows that he's not cleared to participate in anything that the team does for the next little bit, but that was better than sitting here in the hospital while his mind rotted away. Though he wouldn't put it past either his Hyung or Noona to make him stay longer just to annoy him. He really hoped that they didn't do that, because A, he really wanted to go home, and 2, if he stayed in here any longer then Seungkwan or Seokmin one was going to kill him. Seungkwan because he liked to annoy him to pass the time by. And then Seokmin because Jun finally met the girl that he's had a crush on for months and he thinks that she's adorable! And all that the two of them have done was talk about Seokmin and all of the antics that they've been up to lately. Which left him with a very embarrassed and very annoyed Seokmin who had the looks and means to kill him. He really hoped that he got out of here today. 

Needless to say that he lit up like a christmas tree when Joshua and Solar came into the room at the end of the week. He had been telling Jihoon all week that he hoped to come home soon. The younger man had been visiting him everyday since he had been hospitalized. And they started talking a little bit everyday since they confessed their feelings to one another. Jun wasn't really sure what they were to each other, he knew that regardless that they were family members, but he's pretty sure that they are more than friends. Friends don't make out on said friends' hospital bed in the middle of the night while their younger friends are asleep on the other side of the room. It wasn't their proudest moment, and if Jun hadn't been hooked up to an IV then they probably would have gone way, way farther than they had gone. And what they had in mind Seungcheol would have killed him for if he knew it. All in all a very good night in Jun's opinion. 

"Hey Noona, Hi Hyung." Jun greeted warmly as the two entered the room. The only other person in the room at the moment besides the three of them was Jihoon. He had refused to go home and rest after the first night there, and eventually Seungcheol just gave up and let him stay there. Minghao tried to stay too but Mingyu was able to drag him home. Jeonghan wanted to stay at some point also but was forbidden by Joshua from doing so. So Soonyoung and Chan came in his place. Jun liked that a lot, Soonyoung was the clinginess that he needed and Chan was the cuteness that he desired. Though he had to beg for the younger to act cute for him and bribe him with chocolate. And Jeonghan texted, called, and FaceTimed him all the time to make sure that he was going okay and that he didn't need anything. Jun knew that he was worried about him, and would do anything to help him out. It had gotten to the point that Joshua had taken the elder's phone away from him so that he would rest and sleep some. Jeonghan didn't like it, but he sent messages through Seokmin to him as a way to make it up to him. "Don't even think about it." Solar told him. "I know what you're up to Junnie-ah and it's not going to work." She told him. "You have to be checked out thoroughly before I can deem you well enough to go home." She said as she pulled out her clipboard. "I know that you're just dying to go home, and yes I know that you've done everything that we've asked of you without complaining directly to our faces, but we still have to examine you to make sure that everything is well enough for you to go home." Solar explained. And it scared Jun sometimes how good the older woman was at her job. 

The whole examination took the two of them about 15 minutes or so. Jun was very quiet and didn't talk a whole lot during it. He wanted to get it done and over with as soon as possible so that they could tell him rather he could go home or not. When it was over Solar had pulled Joshua over to discuss their results with each other while Jun waited. He wished that Jihoon was there with him, but Solar had sent him out with the others so that they could get through everything in one piece, hopefully. But he really wanted the younger's comfort in a situation like this. It wasn't long until the two of them came back over to his bed to talk to him. Jun sat that quietly in anticipation. He really hoped that they were going to tell him that he was going to get discharged. But he knew better than to get his hopes about stuff like this so he was just going to wait until they told him what was going to happen with him. He hoped that it was good news then. 

Both Joshua and Solar laughed softly at the puppy dog eyes that Jun was giving them. They knew that the younger was really itching to be able to go home. And if they told him that he couldn't go home neither one of them would be surprised if Jun tried to escape the hospital out of the window. Joshua had joked to Solar that if that were to happen then they would just sick Jeonghan on him. Even though they were high off of the ground and Jeonghan was terrified of heights he would go out there to get his dongsaeng back in safely. Then they would all have to stop Jeonghan from committing murder, he loved them all, Joshua knows he does,. But one thing that Jeonghan will not budge on is his fear of heights. You take him out somewhere high, he'll freak out and it normally doesn't end well. When they came back over to the bed, they both figured that they had made Jun suffer enough. "Well." Joshua told him. "Congratulations Junnie, you get to go home today." And they thought that Seokmin was loud.

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"Hyung, what are you doing?" Mingyu asked as he walked into their kitchen. Jeongahn just hummed and turned around and smiled at him. "Oh, hi Gyu-ah!" Jeonghan greeted him. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in." He told him. Mingyu was happy that his Hyung was feeling better and that he was able to get up and move around the apartment and do things. But he had no idea why he was in their kitchen cooking? It was very obvious that Mingyu was a good cook and that he was the go-to chef whenever they needed food if he was there. He wasn't saying that Jeonghan was a horrible cook or anything, but he wasn't that good either. Though he was one of the few of the members that Mingyu allowed to cook in the kitchen without having him there to supervise, or to be there at all even if he's there. (Soonyoung) But even though he could cook and the stuff that he made wasn't that bad, 9 times out of 10 Jeonghan just won't. Normally he lets someone else do it. So, Mingyu was surprised that the elder was in here cooking. It kind of scared him to be honest. 

Mingyu really wasn't sure what was going on with his Hyung, but when Jeonghan started humming to himself, the younger one was debating on whether or not he should go and try to find Seungcheol to see if he could fix the other male. "Do you want to help me, Mingyu?" Jeonghan asked him. He had looked over his shoulder and saw that the younger male was still in the room with him. He figured that he might as well ask him if he wanted him to help as long as he was there. He was in a good mood that morning, and he was going to take full advantage of it. Joshua had called him earlier and told him that Jun was going to be discharged later that day. Jeonghan was ecstatic, and he was so happy that he wanted to go and do something nice for his dongsaeng when he got home. So Jeonghan was determined that he was going to try and bake the younger man a cake as a surprise for when he got home. And yes he knows that he's not the most skilled when it came to the culinary arts in the group, but it was pretty hard for even someone like him to mess up a cake if he followed the instructions on the back of the box. Which is where Mingyu had found him in the middle of when he walked into the room. 

"Uh..."Mingyu said. Jeonghan turned around and smiled at the younger. "Don't worry about it Gyu, I'm just making a cake for Junnie as a surprise for when he gets to come home, don't fret I'll clean up when I'm done." He told him. And now everything made much more sense to Mingyu. It explained why Jeonghan was in such a happy mood to cook and be in the kitchen doing something. "Okay, sure I'll help." Mingu said as he walked over to the elder. The two of them spent the next 20 minutes trying and somewhat succeeding on baking a cake together. It would be semi-weird if one of the other members were to come into the room right now then they would be shocked. Jeongahn and Mingyu get along with each other fairly well and all, but they are the two members who have the least in common with the other. So, it's very rare to see them doing stuff like this together. "So, Dokyeom gets to come today?" Mingyu asked him. "I haven't heard that." Jeonghan nodded his head. "Yeah, Shua just called, and everything, he called me first because he knew that I was worried." Jeonghan told him. "I think he's calling Cheol now, so everyone else will know soon if Junnie hasn't gone and told everyone in the group chat yet." Mingyu nodded his head as he went to put the cake in the oven. While he did that Jeonghan had already started to clean up the kitchen for him. This was the happiest that he had seen the elder in a while and he really liked it. 

For the next couple of minutes the two of them worked together in silence as they worked to clean up the kitchen. Jeonghan was lost in his own little world while he was wiping down the counters, as Mingyu watched him as he tried to do the dishes. The younger was suddenly hit with the urge to go and do something very stupid in his own opinion. All that he wanted to do was to ask his Hyung a question, but the question that he wanted to ask him had the possibility to mess everything up at that moment. He didn't want to upset his Hyung and ruin his good mood, but he was worried and wanted to make sure that the elder was okay. "Hyung?" Mingyu prodded after a couple of minutes. Jeonghan hummed in response and turned his head to face the younger. "Yeah Mingyu, is there something wrong?" He asked him. Mingyu shook his head at him. "No, nothing's wrong Hyung." Mingyu told him. "It's,... It's just that I wanted to ask you something." Mingyu said. "But I don't want to make you upset by asking it." He told him. Jeonghan waved it off. "No, it's okay, go ahead and ask Mingyu." Jeonghan said. "I know that I tend to lie a lot on the job, and that I've been very vague about my past." He told the younger one. "But I have never willingly lied to any of you about that, I just don't like to talk about that stuff so I just don't." He said. Mingyu nodded his head in return and opened his mouth to ask his question. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Hoseok was worried. Okay, he was more than just a little bit worried, he was a lot worried and to be completely honest with himself and anyone else who he may encounter, he was terrified. If, if this turned out to be true then he really didn't know what they were going to do. Yes, him and Yoongi had talked about having children before in the past, yes they had the talk again a couple of months ago when they decided to try for them. But, with the possibility of it actually happening, it just made it all hit him at once. And if Joon was right and there were people out there targeting teams like theirs then he didn't know what they were going to do. If Yoongi was pregnant, especially now, then that made him a bigger target than the rest of them. And Hoseok knows that even if the elder would never admit it, but he really wanted to have a baby. The younger one really wants one too, but he's too worried about the fact that someone might try to come after him to use him and the baby as leverage against Bangtan. 

He was worrying his hands together as he paced outside the hallway that the bathroom was located in. Yoongi had gone in there for what felt like weeks ago, to go and take one of the pregnancy tests, that he, Jin, Jimin, and Jeongguk keep in there. He had finally been able to convince the hacker to go and take a test, just to see if there's anything to be worried about. He was especially concerned that he might be pregnant when Yoongi missed his cycle a couple of days ago. Though that's not really a whole lot to worry about, there's three other carriers in the house, and hormones and almost anything can send the cycles flying off kilter. This has happened more than once, and it has led to a mass panic in the dorm. That was a very interesting experience to say the least. And it hasn't happened again since then and that was almost 2 years ago. At least until now that is. 

Hoseok just about jumped out of his skin when he heard the door unlock and open behind him. He was so lost in his head that he had managed to tune out all of the other sounds that were in the apartment. The man spun around and turned to face whoever it was behind. A few seconds later his brain slapped him on the back of the head as he realized that the only person that could be coming out of the room was Yoongi. When he turned around he had his hand held over his heart, as he looked at his lover with wide eyes. Yoongi in return, just looked at the younger man like he had lost his mind. He knew that he was going into the bathroom to take a test. Though it was typically Hoseok to get so worked up and lost in his head that he forgot that everyone and everything around him existed. Yoongi just raised an eyebrow up at him. "What?" He asked him softly. Hoseok gasped for breath for a couple of minutes before he was able to speak again. "You... scared the shit out of me!" He whined to the older. Yoongi sighed to himself as the younger came over and wrapped his arms around the older's waist. "I'd say that I'm sorry, but you knew that what I was in there doing, and you were the one who insisted on waiting out here for me." Yoongi told him. That was when Hoseok decided that the appropriate response would be to pinch the older on the hip. Yoongi relaitated by slapping the younger man upside the head. "OW!!" Hoseok yelped. "Hyung! That hurt!" He whined. Yoongi only sighed again to himself. 

When the two of them pulled away, they both had small smiles on their faces. Hoseok then guided Yoongi back to the pair's shared bedroom to wait it out. As Hoseok went to close the door, Yoongi headed straight for the bed. He flopped down onto the comforter on his head, and spread out on it. He groaned to himself as he stretched out on the bedspread to get rid of all of the kinks in his body. Hoseok just smiled to himself as he walked across the room to join him. "Scoot over, bed hog." Hoseok said as he nudged Yoongi's knee to get him to move over. "Yoongi grumbled but compiled with the request easily. "That's bed hog-Hyung to you, Seok." Yoongi told him. And Hoseok could tell that by the tone of his voice that the older was already half asleep. He rolled his eyes and chuckled fondly at the other as he laid down next to him on the bed. "Well?" He asked him. Yoongi turned his head and peaked one of his eyes open to look at his lover. "Well, what?" He asked him coyly. "Don't act cute with me Ming Yoongi." he told him. "What are the results?" He asked him instead. Yoongi shrugged in response to the question. "I don't know." Yoongi told him. "It takes about 20 minutes for the results to come in according to the instructions on the box." "I guess we'll know in 20 minutes then." Hoseok mused. Yoongi just hummed in response, and placed a hand on his stomach. "Yeah I guess that we will."

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While the two of them were dealing with that, Namjoon was at the other end of the apartment as he was trying to make a very important phone call. "Come on Jackson pick up." He mumbled under his breath. He had to listen to the dial tone for a couple of minutes before he actually got someone to pick up the phone. "Hello?" A voice that was not Jackson picked up. "Mark-Hyung?" Joon asked him. "Oh, Joon-ah! Hey man, what's happening?" Mark asked him. "Oh, um nothing much Hyung, I was trying to reach Jackson to ask him about something, or JB if he's there." Joon explained to him. "Oh, well I have no idea where he is to be honest with you." Mark told him. "Jackson drank like 3 Red Bulls before going to bed last night, and kept me up for three hours." He said. Namjoon snorted at that, it was typical Jackson-like behavior for that. "Why, or do I even want to know?" Namjoon asked him. "I don't know, I was asleep until you called, the idiot must have left to go wherever he went without it." Mark told him. "I"m going to kill him, I've told him a thousand times to not leave the apartment without it." Mark huffed. 

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that Hyung, I know how excited that Jackson can be when he's had sugar." Namjoon told him. "But if you don't know where he is, do you have an idea of where he could be?" He asked him. It didn't take long for Mark to come up with an answer for him. "Well, more likely than not he's out with one of the kids." Mark told him. "Now, that could mean anything to him." Mark explained. "It could be just BamBam, and Yugyeom, or it could be Chris and his group, or the new auditions to JYP, and that is just a big mess right now." Namjoon hummed on the other end of the line. "But, I can go and see if Jaebum's here and see if he can help." "Yes, that would be fine Hyung if you don't mind." Namjoon told him. "I don't want to inconvenience you anymore than I already have." "No, no you're fine Joon, I probably needed to get up anyway." Namjoon could hear Mark moving about and get up out of bed and walked out of the room deeper into the apartment to look for their leader. It wasn't long before he was able to find said leader in the kitchen. "Hey, Jaebum-ah!" Mark called. "Hmm,.. what do you need Hyung?" Namjoon heard the other 94-liner ask. "It's Joon-ah, he was looking for Jackson, but do you think that you could help him?" Mark asked him. "Yeah, sure Hyung, is he on the line?" He asked. "Yeah, hey Joon, I'm going to switch you over now." Mark told him. "Okay, thank you Hyung, bye." Namjoon told him. "Bye Joon-ah, I hope this helps." Mark said. And Namjoon hoped that too. 

"Hello?" JB asked him. "Hey, yeah, Jaebum-ah, how are you?" Namjoon asked him. "Hey, Joon-ah, I'm fine, we're doing good." He told him. "How about you and your team?" "We're doing okay for the most part, you know the same old same old." Joon told him. "But, like Mark-Hyung said I needed to ask Jackson this, but since he's not there can you help?" He asked him, cutting straight to the point. "Sure, hit me." The slightly older one said. "What do you know about "The Agency" from China?" Namjoon asked him. "'The Agency?'" He asked him. "What are you doing that involves them?" "Have you by any chance heard what happened to SEVENTEEN?" Joon asked him. "Yes, I heard from Yugyeom that one of its members was shot." JB told him. "What does that have to do with this?" "Jun, the one who got shot, he's from China like Jackson but he wasn't lucky enough to get away from those parnas's clutches like him." Joon explained. "From what I could get from when I sent Kookie on an investigation since he's friends with a couple of their members, he was shot by someone that used to be in the group who was also in 'The Agency.'" Namjoon told him. "It's bad and the worse part is that I have a bad feeling that something sinister is going on, something that we don't even know the half of yet." He explained to him. "Do you know anything?" 

"I want to help you Joon, I really do, but I know just as much as you do about these people." JB told him. "Jackson, even though he didn't get recruited because JYP-Hyung got to him first, knew about them." He explained to him. "He knew who they were and what type of people and business that they were despite what the public knew." JB said. "But he doesn't like to talk about it any, and the few times that he has let something slip it really wasn't something about their operations, more how the personnel were treated." "Well, that's more than what we knew beforehand." Joon told him. "I just know that they're dangerous Joon and they aren't the people that you want to mess with unless you have a death wish." JB told him. "Do you think that they're targeting us, to get us out of the way?" He asked the younger. "I'm not really sure to be honest with you." Namjoon told him. "That's what it feels like to me, and it's kind of what it looks like based on what happened to SEVENTEEN." Joon said. "I feel so bad for their leader, S.Coups, right?" JB asked. "Yeah, Coups, I've never met the man, but I respect him because of his reputation." Joon told him. "I want to help so that no one else has to get hurt." He said. "Jaebum, you and I both know that if they take out SEVENTEEN, then we're next on the chopping block." Namjoon told him. "I know Joon, did you warn your kids?" He asked. "Yeah, Soobinnie's on the lookout and won't let the kids out of his sight." Namjoon told him. "Then I guess that I have to inform the Hyungs and all of the kids about this, I don't want anyone getting hurt." JB said. "But I'll talk to Jackson wherever he gets home,and I"ll call JYP to see what he knows, if that helps and I'll get back to you Joon." "Thanks." 

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Once Joshua had called and told him that Jun was going to come home later that day, Seungcheol was overjoyed! He went out and told the rest of the kids who were at home with them. And sent it out in the group chat too. He then slipped back into his room that he shared with Jeonghan and Joshua to make a phone call. He pulled out his phone and went and sat on the edge of the bed as he dialed up the number. He just really hoped that he would be able to get through to the other. Seungcheol knew that the other was busy doing a job with his own team at the moment. But he really needed some advice, and though they are only a couple of months apart, JR, or Jonghyun always knew what to say. He was the best at giving advice about situations like these. Again, he just hoped that he would be able to get through and not end up accidentally compromising their mission and getting someone hurt, or worse, killed. 

The phone rang for a couple of seconds before someone finally picked up. Even though it wasn't very long, it had felt like a lifetime to Seugncheol. "Hello?" A masculine voice on the other end answered. "Jonghyun-ah?" Seungcheol asked. The male on the other end waited a few beats before he answered him. "Cheol?" JR asked him. "Yeah, Jong, it's me." Seungcheol told him. "My God, it's been a while hasn't it?" JR mused. "Yeah, I guess that it is." Seungcheol told him. "What's wrong?" The other man asked him. "And don't even think about lying to me, or beating around the bush with me Choi Seungcheol, I know you, and I know that you would never risk calling me while I"m mid mission unless it's serious." He told him. And damn, Seungcheol forgot how much like Jeonghan his old childhood best friend was. The man knew everything that went on around him even if he wasn't there for it. "Junnie got shot." Seungcheol was able to choke out. And it was only then that he realized that this was the first time since the shooting that he had let himself cry. He was so worried about how everyone else was doing that he had completely forgotten to take care of himself and his own needs. 

JR didn't say anything for the longest time, but when he did, it just wasn't good. "Oh...Oh my God,..." He whispered on the other line. Seungcheol was just sitting on his bed on the other end of the line as he cried. "Is,.. Is he okay?" JR asked him. And it was then that Seugncheol was really, really glad that Jun had pulled through and that he was going to get to come home today. He didn't know if he would have been able to handle telling him and the rest of NU'EST what happened. "Yeah, yeah, he's okay." Seungcheol told him. "It happened about a little over a week ago. Shua said that it was touch and go for a moment, but other than that he's fine." Seungcheol told him. "He gets to come home today, and he's very happy about that, though he's going to have to do physical therapy to make sure that no muscles or anything that was damaged during the shot." "Where? Why? Do you know who did it?" JR asked him. And Seungcheol knew the other long enough to recognize that the older was on the verge of panic. "He was shot almost point blank to the heart, it barely missed anything important from what Josh said he's lucky to be alive right now." Seungcheol told him. "And, he was shot by... MingMing shot him." He rushed out. And JR was just silent on the other line. "What?!" The older hissed out. "That bastard! You opened your home and your lives to him and Junnie when they joined you, you loved him like he was your own!" JR ranted. "How could he do it!" "Hyung, calm down, " Seungcheol told him. "I can explain everything to you so that you can get the whole picture." He told him. "That's why I called, I need some advice." 

Seungcheol then spent the next half hour or so explaining to the other leader what had been happening on his end in the past couple of months. He told him about finding out about Wonwoo's parents, and that Jun got shot when they tried to infiltrate them. He talked more and more about MingMing, and how he had broken into the hospital twice to check on Jun. And when he had gone to confront the younger when he got a mysterious text from an unknown number. He told his old friend the information that MingMing had given him, and the flash drive that he had given to Wonwoo to try and make sense of it. Seugncheol told him of the mess that has been his life for the past couple of months, with Jeonghan getting sick and having to go to the hospital, when they thought that he was doing bad again so they made him go back to Irene. How the hospital's been swamped and understaffed for months and it's really been taking a toll on Joshua as well. He also told him about how they thought that Jeonghan was pregnant, and when they knew for certain that he wasn't then they talked about trying for a baby after all of this is over with. And he didn't fail to mention how everyone is scared and is on edge because of what happened. He made it clear that none of them knew exactly what they had just gotten themselves into. 

"Wow." Was all that Jonghyun was able to say once Seungcheol got done with his explanation. It wasn't hard for him to tell that the other was very shocked at what he was told. Though Seungcheol doesn't blame him for it though, it is a lot of information for anyone to take in and digest. Seungcheol thinks that JR's handling it better than if their roles were reversed. "I... I don't really know what to tell you Cheol." Jonghyun told him. "I mean, yeah NU'EST has pissed off a lot of people in our time together on the streets, but we've never experienced anything like this before." He told him. "I mean, it's just mind boggling to me, do you think that China's trying to punish Minghao and Junnie for escaping from their grasp over to you guys?" He asked him. Seungcheol sighed on the other end of the line. "I'm not really sure to be honest with you, I've toyed with the idea before though, but we don't have anything solid to back it up with." He told him. "Though with how MingMing was talking, I have a feeling that if it's not them, then it's someone who's related to them." Jonghyun hummed in agreement on the other line. "But either way, you're screwed because these people are some of the most dangerous people in the world that you'll ever come across in your life." Seungcheol told him. "I honestly don't know how to help you Cheol." Jong told him. "But, you can count on us anytime to come and help." JR told him. "We're almost done with our own mission." He said. "Call me in a couple of days after I've talked to the guys and I'll see what I can do." "Thank you Jonghyun." Seungcheol told him. "You don't know how much this means to me." "Anything for a friend." 

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Those 20 minutes felt like the longest 20 minutes of his whole life in Hoseok's opinion. Him and Yoongi spent that time cuddled up together on their bed. It had looked like that Yoongi had fallen asleep on Hoseok's chest while they waited. He still had no idea how the other was able to do that, though he has taken into account that the elder really hasn't been sleeping these past couple of nights since the nauseous feeling has gotten worse over the last little bit. He felt sorry for the other, he didn't like it when Yoongi felt bad, regardless of whether it was mentally or physically. But it could be different this time. Even though from talking to Joon and Soobin that there's a high chance that there's some psycho group out there trying to take all of them out, Hoseok wanted to be a father. This by no means was the right time for any of this, but a large part of him really wants Yoongi to be pregnant. And that was one of the craziest things that he's ever done in his life. 

He gently shifted over to where he was facing more of Yoongi. He loved watching his lover sleep, it's something that he's done for as long as they've been together if not longer. God, he loved this man so, so much. He would do anything to make sure that both Yoongi and any children that they ever have in their lives together are safe and protected from the evils of this world. He knew that it was a big challenge but he was up for it, he wanted all of them to be safe with one another, and have a happy life that Yoongi never got to live when he was a child. Hoseok moved his hand to where it was resting over Yoongi's stomach. He was a little thing, he never really weighed that much in all of the years that they have known each other. He still couldn't really tell that much of a difference since his stomach was still flat. But he really hoped that there was a little baby in there, just waiting to come out into the world to greet them and grow up with them. Yoongi was right, he was a sap. 

The blaring sound of the alarm that Yoongi had set up on his phone to indicate that time was up and to alert them of that scared Hoseok half to death. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he had completely forgotten about it all. Beside him Yoongi stirred in his arms and moved to get up to go back to the bathroom. Hoseok didn't say anything, he just went and followed the older out of the room and back to the hallway bathroom. Watching Yoongi as they walked back into the bathroom, Hoseok didn't see a change in his demeanor at all. It was kind of unnerving for him to be truthful, Hoseok himself was a complete ball of nerves and he was so jittery that he didn't know what to do with himself. Anyone that ran into them in the hallway at the moment would be able to tell how anxious he was easily. Which isn't something that would be helpful during a mission. If they were on a mission now, then Hoseok would most definitely have been caught by now in the very least. God, he wished that this was over already, he just wanted to know the results so that they could get on with their lives. 

Yoongi ducked into the bathroom again while Hoseok waited outside for him. He knew that Namjoon was somewhere in the apartment trying to get a hold of Jackson or something. And Jin had taken the maknaes out with him to go and get groceries. Hoseok didn't know if they did this on purpose or not but he's grateful that they have left the two of them alone for the most part. Hoseok was pacing up and down the hallway while he waited for Yoongi to come back out. The elder had been in there for a long time in Hoseok's opinion. And no, he wasn't exaggerating about it this time. He wore his watch today and he kept checking the time on it, keeping a record of how long the older one was taking in there. It shouldn't take 15 minutes to check a pregnancy test, should it? He knows that it doesn't you just pick it up and flip it over and check the little window. So, does that mean that he's pregnant? Does it mean that he's not pregnant? Is there something wrong that Hoseok should be concerned about? Is Yoongi dying?! Right when he was going to go and barge back into the bathroom to check on him. But just as soon as Hoseok had made it to the door, Yoongi opened it. Almost immediately, Hoseok saw the tear tracks down on his face. He reached out a hand and brushed them away. "Yoongi-Hyung.." Hoseok said. Yoongi shook his head at him, and reached into his hoodie pocket to pull out a stick. It was the pregnancy test. Hoseok took it and looked at it, and he was in awe. It read positive (+), Yoongi was pregnant. He turned his attention back to the elder and saw him smiling up at him with that gummy smile of his. Everything was going to be okay. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Jun was very excited. He got to go home today. After the examination was over, Solar had left the room to go attend to other patients, while Joshua stayed behind with him. "Careful Junnie, we don't want you to reinjury yourself." He told him with a smile. He had also pulled out his phone and was texting who Jun assumes to be their group chat telling all of them the good news. Soon, Jihoon comes back into the room to check on them. The younger hasn't been able to stay away from him, though Jun wasn't complaining about it. He actually liked it, a lot. He's had a crush on the young hacker since the early days that he had joined the team. Jihoon was always a little bit more stand-offish than the rest of the team, and it didn't phase Jun in the slightest though. It's hard to explain it really, but the best way to put it is that there's always just been this pull between him and Jihoon. He always used to try and find ways to be around the younger when he had first joined. His Korean wasn't the best, but Jihoon had been able to pick up some basic Chinese phrases, and with the help of Google Translate, they had some pretty good conversations with each other. MingMing.... MingMing always used to tell him that he was crazy going after Jihoon. "He'll just end up breaking you heart Ge." Is what he a;ways told him. But Jun was very stubborn and he just knew that deep down inside that Jihoon was met to be in his life for however long he had left on this Earth. 

"When do I get out of here?" Jun asked the med student. "Don't sound so excited Junnie, it'll make everyone think that you hated it here." Joshua teased him. Jun ignored the chance to pick back at the elder though, he was really itching to get out of here and he wasn't afraid to walk out there buck naked if he had to. "Please Hyung." Joshua chuckled fondly at his two dongsaengs. "Don't worry Junnie, you're getting out and coming home with me when I get off in a couple of hours." Joshua told him. Junnie looked at the clock on the wall of his room and saw that it was just a little after Noon. He sighed to himself when he realized that Joshua didn't get off until about 2 today and he had about 2 hours left until he could go home. "Don't fret Jun." Jihoon had told him. "You'll be out in no time and I'll stay here until that happens." He reassured him. "Okay, Hyung." Jun told him. "Who's driving us home?" He asked him. "Channie's going to drive us home don't worry." Jihoon told him. "Speaking of that maknae." Joshua said. "Where did him and Soonyoung go off to anyway?" He asked them. "I think he took Chan to go and walk around I think." Jihoon said. "I'm not really sure, he just grabbed Chan and took off." Joshua sighed and rolled his eyes. Of course they would do that. He just hoped that they didn't cause too much damage in their wake or Boa was going to have his head for this. 

"Have I missed anything since I've been gone?" Jun asked. "No, not really." Joshua told him nonchalantly. Him, Seungcheol and Jeonghan had made a pact not to tell the others about Jeonghan's pregnancy scare. They didn't want the others to worry or anything, but after all of this is over they were going to sit all 10 of them down and explain that they were going to try for a baby. The three of them didn't want to add any more stress to the situation then there was already. And then there was the fact of MingMing and all that information on that flash drive that he had given Seungcheol. But their leader wanted to wait until they got Jun home and Wonwoo or Woozi had gotten a crack at the encrypted flies and looked over them so that he could explain to everyone what was going on. So far no one has figured out what was going on, but once all of them were under one roof again, things would change drastically. This was going to end up being a big mess Joshua just knows it. And he really needed more aspirin to be able to deal with all of this. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Surprisingly, it didn't take that long for the time left in Joshua's shift to end. It seemed like a blur to him. They only had to wait on Joshua today. Seokmin and Seungkwan had the day off today, and were busy attending classes. Chan and Soonyoung had come back from their trip around the hospital, with Jun's clothes from the car. They had brought them to the hospital just in case. But they weren't going to tell Jun or Joshua how long that they had been in there though. They didn't need to know that the clothes have been sitting in the trunk and have been alternating between which car they were in until Seungkwan got the bright idea to put one set of clothes in the trunk of each car. They were more than overjoyed when their respective phones had pinged in their group chat with a message from Joshua saying that Jun could come home. So they went down to the car and got the clothes and ran back up to Jun's room, bubbling over with excitement. They were so bad that Jihoon had threatened to kick them out, again., for the third time that day. He was really starting to wish that he had Mingyu and Minghao back with them, Hell, he'd even take Jeonghan at the moment. 

But once 2pm rolled around, Jun was dressed and ready to go and had been discharged and they all headed to the lobby to wait for Joshua. They didn’t have to wait that long for the young med student to get out. Once they all were accounted for they headed to the car. They still had to take one of the long ways home to make sure that they weren’t being followed, but soon they were home. They had to keep Jun from jumping out of the car while it was still in motion and sprinting up the stairs to the apartment building. It was obvious to tell how excited he was to finally be home, but they didn’t need him tearing his stitches and ending up hurting something else in the process. And they had stuck Jun in the middle to try and prevent this. When and only when Chan put the car in park did they allow Jun to get out. He was a giant ball of nerves and they could see how hard he was trying to rein himself in. They collected all of their stuff and headed up together to the apartment. 

Jun was talking a mile a minute the whole time. He was bursting at the seams and just wanted to be able to go home and sleep in his own bed again. But what he didn’t know what was waiting for him on the other side of the apartment door. In the short amount of time that was between Jun being discharged and them driving home, Jeonghan was able to orchestrate a welcome home party for him. He had gone and convinced all of them that were home to help out. It was a big thing and luckily they were able to get it all done in time. They managed to finish just before Chan pulled up in the car. All of them had turned all of the lights off and went and hid in the shadows until it was time. When Jun had opened the door, he had no idea what he was walking into. He didn't suspect a single thing. When he had asked out loud while all of the lights were off, Chan flicked them on and the rest of them jumped off from their hiding spots and yelled “Surprise!” Needless to say that he was missed and that he was glad to be home. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Later that night, Seungkwan couldn’t sleep. He didn’t know why though, he had tossed and turned for two hours and couldn’t get anywhere. So he just gave up and decided to go and make himself useful. So, he decided to reorganize their kitchen. He knew that Mingyu would probably kill him for it in the morning but he really didn’t care at the moment. He was bored, tired, and yet wide awake at the same time. It was either to clean and reorganize the whole apartment, or go and find the box of matches. And he’s definitely sure that Seugncheol wouldn’t be too happy with him if he ended up setting the apartment on fire. So he could handle an angry Mignyu, he’d just tell Jeonghan that he was trying to help and he'd get Mingyu off of his back. 

It didn’t take Seungkwan any time at all to sneak out of his room and make his way over to the kitchen. He did all of it as quietly as he could so that he wouldn’t wake up anyone else in the apartment. It was Jun’s first night back and everyone, especially him needed all of the sleep that they could get. Seungkwan just expected to clean and organize some and then go back to bed. What he didn’t expect though was for someone else to be in the kitchen at this time of night as well. So Seugnkwan did the only thing that he could really think of at that moment. He turned around slowly and crept back out into the living room, and picked up a throw pillow off of the couch. Logically he knew that it wasn’t the best weapon of choice but that was all that he had at the moment and he had no idea who was in there. He turned his attention back to whoever was in their kitchen. He was terrified that it was MingMing or one of the other people out there who are trying to kill them. He found it slightly strange that the intruder would be in their kitchen and not in the process of killing them all, but you know, people do things differently/ It then occurred to him that he might be rifling through their kitchen to try and find the perfect murder weapon. And that just freaked him out even more! 

Deciding that it was now or never Seungkwan went in and charged at whoever it was in the kitchen. He knew that in hindsight that it probably wasn’t the smartest idea that he’s ever had in his life. But later on if he ends up hurt or dead he can blame all of it the adrenaline rush of fear. Moving on though, he would gladly give up his life if it meant that the rest of the people in the apartment that he has come to call his family remain safe. Yes, he still has a whole loving family waiting for him back in Jeju, but SEVENTEEN have joined their ranks. They’re the brothers that he always wanted and never knew that he needed them until it was too late. He wasn’t going to let anyone hurt him. He may be the 11th youngest out of all of them and he might not be the strongest out of all of them, but he had a short temper and a pissy attitude when he wanted one and he could scare people off too if he tried hard enough. He yelled his battle cry and ran into the room and tackled the person standing next to the stove to the ground. He heard the other person hit the ground hard and grunt as they both went down. Seungkwan took his pillow and started beating the other with it. 

For the most part in Seungkwan’s own opinion he thought that he was doing fairly well at holding the other off but he thought again soon after. The person that he had tackled to the ground had finally regained their bearings and had moved to pin him back to the ground. Seungkwan grunted as his own back hit the kitchen floor. It was only then when the adrenaline rush had worn off did he realize who was on top of him. “Hansol?” Seungkwan asked, breathing heavily. A good adrenaline rush has always left him breathless. “Yeah Hansol.” He told him. “Now, do you want to tell me exactly why you thought that it was a good idea to come and attack me with a throw pillow?” He asked him. “Well, I woke up and couldn’t sleep so I thought that I could go and reorganize the kitchen for Mignyu-Hyung as a surprise.” Seungkwan explained. “And I heard someone, well you in here but I didn’t know that it was you at the time, and I thought that it was an intruder.” “So you thought that it would be a good idea to attack a potential intruder with a throw pillow?” Hansol asked him. Seungkwan shrugged his shoulders from where he was pinned underneath the slightly younger male. “At the time it was the only thing that I could grab without alerting you of my presence.” Seungkwan told him. “Just be glad that I didn’t get the lamp off of the inn table like I wanted to.” He told him. He didn’t miss the way that Hansol rolled his eyes at him though. God, sometimes he just wanted to choke the other. 

The two of them just stayed where they were for the next couple of minutes. It wasn’t until the tiles of the kitchen floor started to dig into Seungkwan’s back to the point that it was very uncomfortable that he made a move to get out from underneath Hansol. “Get off of me you big oaf.” he told him. Hansol didn’t say anything, just rolled his eyes and moved off of the other. “Okay, your majesty, are you happy now?” He asked him sarcastically. Seungkwan just rolled his eyes and moved to sit up. The two of them got off of the floor and moved their impromptu late night conversation over to the kitchen table. “You do know that Mignyu-Hyung would kill you if he found out that you reorganized his system.” Hansol told him. “I know, but I couldn’t sleep, I felt restless and wanted to do something nice for him.” Seungkwan told him. “And besides, if he got mad at me I was just going to go and hide behind Jeonghan-Hyung until he could talk him down.” Hansol just rolled his eyes at him. “Don’t roll your eyes at me Hansol Vernon Chwe.” Seungkwan told him. “Respect your elders.” “A, we’re the same age Boo Seungkwan.” Hansol told him. “And 2, you’re barely a month older than me Kwannie, and 7, I can do whatever the Hell I want to do.” Hansol told him smugly. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re annoying?” Seungkwan asked him. “Yes, you have, many, many times.” “Well, I call it like I see it.” “Oh shut up.” “Make Me.” “Don’t tempt me.” And that went on for a couple of more hours until the both of them ended up asleep at the kitchen table and that was where the rest of the members found them in the morning. Jeonghan took a lot of pictures to use for blackmail purposes. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Seungkwan wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep that night though. Mingyu was another member who couldn't get to sleep no matter how hard he tried to. He just didn’t know why he couldn’t get to sleep. It was like that his brain just wouldn’t shut off no matter what he did. He was so tired, and he really wanted to sleep but he just couldn’t. His mind was going a mile a minute though. And the only thing that seemed to be on his mind lately was Minghao. He didn’t know what to do about that. He didn’t want to ruin their friendship, after all the younger was his best friend. Deciding to bite the bullet, Mingyu pulled out his phone and pulled up his messages with Jungkook. The man had two boyfriends so he was better equipped to handle this than he was. He just hoped that he was awake at this time of the night.

**Gyu:** **What do you do when you realize that you like your best friend? Purely hypothetical though.**

**Kookie: Dude, you’re just now realizing that you have the hugest crush ever on Minghao? That’s laughable, like really, it is.**

**Gyu:** **Hahahaaha, very funny. I don’t know what you talking about, this is just hypothetical, nothing about it is real.**

**Kookie: Yeah right, and I’m Donald Trump. You don’t have to lie to me Gyu, we’ve been friends for years. And besides, I saw the way that you looked at him the last time I saw the both of you.**

**Gyu:** **Fine. You got me alright. I love Minghao, and I don’t know what to do about it. I mean HaoHao is so sweet, and loving, but at the same time he’s also one of the most deadliest people that I have ever met in my life. What do I do?**

**Kookie: Here’s a hint, why don’t you just tell him?**

**Gyu:** **Are you nuts?! I’m not going to do that, what if he says no?**

**Kookie: Really? Well then you obviously weren’t paying attention to all of the death glares that he was giving me when he realized that we knew each other.**

**Gyu:** **What are you talking about? HaoHao just doesn’t like strangers and he was worried that you were going to kill us or something.**

**Kookie: Really? Fine, whatever Mignyu. I gotta go, Taetae-Hyung won’t leave me alone until I come to the dog park with him. Peace.**

**Gyu: Hey, Kookie are you awake? I need your expert advice.**

**Kookie: Yeah, I’m up, what do you need?**

**Gyu: First question, why are you still awake, it’s almost 3 AM dude. And B, it’s about Minghao.**

**Kookie: Tae-hyung woke me up because he kept kicking me in the shin in his sleep. So I’ve escaped to the living room for some peace and quiet. And what did Hao do this time?**

**Gyu: Nothing, it’s just that I can’t sleep. My mind won’t turn off and the only thing that I’ve been able to think about is HaoHao. I don’t know what’s wrong with me Man, this isn’t normal.**

**Kookie: Well, first of all I can tell you what’s wrong with you Mingyu my frirend. You’re in love with Hao, moron. What do you mean by not normal? Are you talking about liking another guy? Or the fact that you’re in love with your best friend. Or the fact that you’re in love with your best friend who’s a guy. But the only way that you can solve this problem is to confront him about it and confess dude, you know this.**

**Gyu: But I don’t want to though. I mean I do but I don’t. It's a very complicated situation, Kook. I love Hao, I really, really, do and I’ve had a huge crush on him for years.**

**Kookie: Then why don’t you say anything? It’s been years Mingyu, you’re going to have to tell him about it at some point you know this right? It’s only fair to the both of you.**

**Gyu: I know, I know, but I’m scared. I don’t want to mess this up Kook. I’m completely and utterly terrified that if I tell him how I feel then he’ll just reject me. I don’t know if I can handle this Kook. And I mean if things get rocky between us, how is that going to affect the team. It could break all of us up! I can’t let that happen.**

**Kookie: Mingyu, man I’ve known you for most of my life, we were best friends since we were kids and I moved up here from Busan. You’re like a brother to me man, but sometimes I just want to choke you out. You never know what’s going to happen in your life. You don’t know that Minghao’s going to reject you. He could be in love with you too for all you know. But you won’t ever find out unless you actually try.**

**Gyu: But what do I do if it all falls apart. And if you’re right, what if he likes me? What do I do about that. I’ve never been in a serious relationship before and you know this! The only time that I’ve been kissed was in kindergarten by Rose Park right before her family moved back to New Zealand! What if all that we do is fight with each other?**

**Kookie: From what you tell me that’s all that the two of you do anyway. How different could it be? I mean couples, regardless of how well they get along with one another, have fights. You’re Hyungs have been through it, so have I, Hell me Jimin-Hyung and Taehyung-Hyung have been through it multiple times! It’s part of the relationship process. You just have to trust your gut, and Hao. I know you two, you may fight like cats and dogs, but you always make up.**

Gyu: I guess you’re right Kook. I think that I really needed to hear that, especially with what’s been going on lately. Thank you.

Kookie: It’s no problem Gyu. And your welcome. Oh, and how's your Jun-Hyung doing? You said that he got to come home today right? I was talking to Namjoon-Hyung earlier and he wanted to check up on him to see if he was alright?

Gyu: Oh, yeah, Hyung’s just fine. He came home and Jeonghan-Hyung had planned a surprise party for him and he liked it a lot. Though it wasn’t long before he went to bed though. Joshua-Hyung said that it’s easier for him to get tired, but overall he’s doing good. And you can tell your Hyung thanks for checking up on him, that’s very nice of him. 

Kookie: I will. Goodnight Mingyu. 

Gyu: Goodnight Kookie! 


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie, it's very angsty up in here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter here people! Happy Birthday Hoshi! I know that I'm a little bit late, but here it is anyway. Have no idea when I'll publish next though, but don't worry I'll get there. I don't think there's anything that will be too bad to warn you about that you don't already know, but if anyone finds anything let me know and I'll change it when I get a chance to! Enjoy!   
> -N.

Chapter 17

It wasn't that long after Jun had been discharged from the hospital that Seungcheol called for a family meeting in the living room. No one in the house knew what the meeting was for exactly, but all of them knew that it had something to do with Jun getting shot and whoever is after them. They just didn't know what they would be walking into at the moment. And that just scared all of them half to death. No one knew who these people were, or what they were after. They could have been targeting just one member, or all of them for that matter. But they didn't know since they had so little information on whoever it is that's after them. In hindsight though, that was most likely the reason that they were having this meeting in the first place. It's what made the most sense to Minghao as all of them gathered together in their tiny living room. 

He knew that there was something going on when Seungcheol had gone around the apartment and called everyone in for a meeting. Most of the time meetings weren't anything too serious. It was they had a new job or going over a list of potential clients, and their leader wanted all of them fully aware of what was going on and everything attached to it. The more they do it the less that Mignhao has been nervous about them. Though when Seungcheol had called this one a "Family Meeting", they all knew that it was something serious. Seungcheol only ever used that term when there was something serious going on that they all needed to discuss together as a 'family.' Though in Minghao's mind that's what they are to him, and Jun too at least. Both of them have no family in this country( And Minghao's pretty sure that he doesn't have any family at all anymore, at least biologically) so the team has become their second family. He would do anything to protect his family and make sure that nothing ever happened to them again. Another translation for this is that he almost lost Jun once and he wasn't going to let that happen ever again. MingMing and whoever else was involved in this was going to pay, if it was the last thing that the young thief ever did in his life. 

Minghao really hoped that whatever it was that their leader had up his sleeve that it wouldn't put Jun back in his recovery any. He knew that Seungcheol would never do that intentionally or anything, but from what he could get out of Seokmin, the tiniest reminder to Jun could have him relive what happened to him and push him back some. Minghao didn't like the sound of it at all, but he knew that's just how things worked regardless of whether he liked it or not, and even though he hated that his older brother had to go through it, he had to go through it. Ever since the elder was released from the hospital almost a week ago, he was sequestered to his room, and the roommate line-up changed a bit. The 95-line still stayed the same, but everyone else changed. In one room there was Jun, Seungkwan, and Seokmin, Jihoon, and Minghao. They set it up so that Jun would have medical attention right there if he needed it. And they moved him to where he was just next to the 95's room so that Joshua could get to him quickly in case of emergency. Then Jihoon was there because of.. Well, Minghao's not really sure, but he thinks that the two of them are a thing or something, though he's not really sure to be honest. And Minghao was there because he'd be damned if he left Jun unattended again. He was one of the more skilled fighters in the team and he wanted to protect the elder at all costs.  


And that just left Wonwoo, Soonyoung, Hansol. Chan, and Mingyu in the last bedroom. It was sort of a tight fit since there were so many people in just the one room, but they made it work. And besides, no one wanted to room with the 95-line for various, and obvious reasons. Another thing that's changed sort of since Jun got out was his relationship with Mingyu. The two of them have been spending even more time with each other than usual since Jun got out. Mingyu would come and sit with him and help keep Jun company. Jihoon would stay by his side for long periods of times, but he was still running about helping Seungcheol with whatever it was that the older was planning. And even though Jun was feeling better, his strength and energy still wasn't what it used to be so he slept for most of the day. But that didn't seem to bother either one of them. Which really surprised Minghao, because Mingyu loved to talk. He was the chatterbox of the group, and Minghao was pretty sure that the elder was capable of talking for days on end and not have to take a breath at all. So needless to say that he was amazed at the way that the Mignyu sat there quietly and just held his hand as they both watched Jun sleep. There was just something about being near Mingyu now that automatically made him feel safe, that nothing or no one could touch him. Mingyu's presence calmed Mingaho's never almost instantly, and he could relax some. But at the same time he was very confused at what these things make him feel. When was the meeting supposed to start again? 

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Once everyone got into the living room, and situated, Seungcheol gave them some time to settle down before he started talking. He knew going in that this wasn't going to be an easy discussion. But it was one that had to be done for the sake of the team if they wanted to come out of this all alive and mostly unharmed. He also knew that this wasn't going to be a pretty conversation either. All of the information that has been found that he hasn't told the other's yet isn't a whole lot. It's just that with how sensitive that the information is could make more than one of them pretty upset. And there's the fact that no one will be happy with what they'll have to do after they have this discussion. He hasn't even told Jeonghan or Joshua about it because he didn't want to upset them. Though he also knows that they're going to be even more upset with him that they haven't been told about it beforehand. But it was a risk that he was willing to take if it meant that he could come up with a plan to try and keep his loved ones safe. 

This wasn't going to be an easy conversation to have. Wonwoo and Jihoon were able to crack the flash drive that MingMing had given him in the hospital. Seungcheol was the only one who had looked through really, all of the information that was on it. Jihoon and Wonwoo caught a glimpse when they hacked into it, and Soonyoung snuck in a couple of his own. Jeonghan and Joshua even knew vaguely what was going on with the situation. The rest of the kids didn't know a single thing, and if it were up to Seungcheol they would never know. He would just ship them off to somewhere safe that these people, these thugs can't hurt them and keep them there until he could figure out how to settle all of this. He's also fully prepared to watch about half of his team blow up when they learn all of this information and he knows that they have the right to given how terrifying this situation could be. And he knows that they all love him just as much as he loves them, and that all of them would do anything for the other, but he's basically in charge of a team of hotheads, so... This is going to be fun. 

Once everyone got settled and were waiting on Seungcheol to start speaking then, Seungcheol took a deep breath. He didn't have a choice about this, and he realizes that he doesn't, but that doesn't stop the pure terror and concern that is running through his veins. He's terrified that something bad is going to happen to his family, and that he's not strong enough to be able to stop it. But he also knows that he doesn't and that he can't do all of this by himself. He needs the rest of SEVENTEEN and probably some others to be able to get all of them through this and out in one piece. Seungcheol jolted a little bit when he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. He snapped his eyes open and turned his head to see Jeonghan and Joshua standing next to him. Jeonghan had placed his hand on his shoulder as a way to try and calm him down, from the storm that's raging on his mind. Jeonghan could always tell when something was wrong with any of them, it was like his 6th sense or something. And both of his lovers had small, encouraging smiles on their faces, which were telling him that he could do this. Steeling himself, Seungcheol was prepared to go on with this and opened his mouth. 

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"Okay." Seungcheol said as he brought this meeting to a start. "I know that all of you are wondering why you've been called here today and all," He said. "And I hate to bring down the mood that we have going on here since, it hasn't been that long since Junnie's come home." He explained to them. "But this is something very important that I need to tell you all, and that we have to discuss together as a family." Everyone just sat there and stared at him. No one said a single word. They all knew that this was serious, but it has now just sung in that this really is a serious situation that all of them are in. And that they could possibly end up dead or something from this. "Any questions before we begin?" Seungcheol asked when no one said anything. None of them said anything but shook their heads. And the leader took that as his cue to continue. 

"Alright then," Seungcehol said. "Let's get this show on the road." He cleared his throat and nodded to Jihoon to start the set up on their tv. "Okay, so as we all know, about a month ago, we went on a job to try and infiltrate Wonu's parent's casino." He started off. Everyone in the room nodded along to what he was saying. It was common knowledge that they all knew and were there for, and yes, it seemed kind of pointless to talk about it, but it's part of the big reason for why they were there, and he told them all that. "Well, anyway, we all also know that this mission didn't turn out as well as we expected it to." And he tried his best to make eye contact with Jun while he was mentioning that part. But, Jun just had his head down and his gaze was locked on the floor, but Seungcheol was slightly reassured when he noticed that Jihoon was holding the other's hand. At least he wasn't alone in all of this, and he didn't miss the way that Minghao was looking at Jun the whole time too. He hoped and prayed that what he was going to say next wouldn't kill the younger. "Anyway," He said to get back to the topic at hand,. "Some things went on while Junnie was in the hospital, that you guys don't really know about." Seungcheol explained to them. And that got everyone's attention on him. "What do you mean that there's stuff that we don't know about Hyung?" Chan asked him. And he could see the look in his brother's eyes that said that he was a little hurt that he didn't tell him about it. But Chan also knows how his brother works and that he also knows that if Seungcheol had a reason not to tell him something, then it was bad. "Well," Seungcheol started, he looked over to Jun one last time before he said it. "MingMing showed up to the hospital." He said outright. "Twice." He added as an afterthought. And that was when all Hell broke loose in the apartment. 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT BASTARD WAS THERE?!" Minghao shouted. He was pissed, that was obvious to everyone in the room. And it's a good thing that he was sitting in between Jun and Mingyu on the couch or else he probably would have jumped up and really lost it. Seungcheol loves the kid he really does, and he knows that Minghao would never intentionally harm anyone of them, but damn, that kid was downright terrifying when he was pissed off. And that's what he was now. Luckily, Mingyu had thrown an arm around the younger's shoulders and had pulled him back down to the couch and had him practically in his lap. While Jun had reached out his free hand and clasped the younger's trembling ones in his. "What I mean is that MingMing came to the hospital at least twice, maybe more." Seungcheol said. "I'm not really sure, I only saw him when I was there." He told them. "What was he doing there Hyung?" Hansol asked him. Seungcheol actually kind of forgot that the younger was in the room, he was just so quiet. " When I talked to him he said that he was there for 2 reasons." He told them. "The first one was that he wanted to make sure that Junnie was okay." He said. "I knew it!" Jun shouted. "I knew that there was more to this than that." He said. "What do you mean Junnie?" Jeonghan asked him. "MingMing was the best shot out of all of us when he was here right?" He asked them. All of the members who were there at the time nodded. "Well, Ming was good enough to where he couldn't miss right?" "What's your point Junnie?" Soonyoung asked him. "My point is Soon that I lived." Jun said. "If Ming wanted me dead then I would have died and there would have been nothing that any of you could have done about it." He told them. "But that doesn't prove anything!" Minghao rebutted. He wasn't going to just sit there and watch his Hyung try and defend the man who shot him and tried to kill him not even a month ago. "He shot you Ge! How can you still trust him!" Minghao said. Seungcheol, sensing the oncoming fight, decided that now was the time to put a stop to it. "Okay, that's enough." He told them. "You two can argue about all of this later." He said. "Now let's get back to the topic at hand here." And it didn't take long to get all of them focused and back to the topic at hand. "And the other one was that he was there to help us." "Help us with what?" Seungkwan asked. "Glad you asked Kwannie." Seungcheol said. "Hoonie." He called. Jihoon nodded and started pressing keys on the computer. 

It didn't take long before a picture of a man that none of them had ever seen before popped up on the screen. To put it frankly, he looked angry, and intimidating just to name a couple of them. He looked to be about middle aged, with salt and pepper black hair. He had a slim, but defined face, and sharp, piercing eyes, with a pair of old-timey specs resting on the very high bridge of his nose. All in all he fit the build of the marks that they normally go after to a perfect 'T.' "This,"Seungcheol said. "Is Mr. Kim Se-Jung, he's the founder and CEO of one of the largest investment banker firms in the country, and majority of Asia." He told them. Jihoon pressed a couple of more keys and more information was put on the screen. "He started out really poor, he lived in poverty with his family until he was 12, when his parents passed away in a house fire, then he bounced around the system until he got to adulthood, from there he worked his way to the top of investment banking." Seungcheol told him. "And he was ruthless in his methods, and didn't let anything or anyone stand in his way." He explained. He nodded at Jihoon again and the hacker pressed some more keys. "Because of this he earned the nickname 'The Black Dragon.'" Seungcheol told them. "And many believe that part of his success is due to his close ties with many of the different mobster groups around the world." He said. "US, Italy, Russia, Korea, China, Japan, Mexico, you name it, he's friends with one of their serpent heads." Seungcheol told them. "And he's gunning for us." The whole room just looked at him after that. 

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The whole room was shocked at the news. This,.. This was the man that was behind Jun getting shot, and not only did he shoot Jun, he wanted to take the rest of them out as well. "And that's not all that we found on him." Jihoon spoke up. He went digging on his laptop for a couple of more minutes before he spoke again. "Combing through the information on the hard drive that we got from the casino the night that Junnie was shot, and the flash drive that MingMing gave us, I found a pattern." Jihoon told them. He pulled up some more files on the tv, most of them were from some of the other jobs that they worked before in the past. "I did some digging and found out that a lot of the marks that we have taken down before not only have ties to Jeon Enterprises, but also the Kim foundation, which is Se-Jung's territory." Jihoon said. "From what Wonwoo and I could find, Se-Jung has close ties to both the Jeons and the organized crime units here in Seoul too." "What does that mean exactly?" Seokmin asked him. And this was the first time that he had spoken up since they began this meeting. " It means that they pretty much every single person that we've taken down since almost the beginning was set up so that we'd find them." Jihoon explained. "We got played." 

Every single person in the room was stunned. All of this time they were being played by the people that they were trying to take down. And they were being watched all of this time too. So, the big question on everyone's mind was how they found them, and why would they choose now to strike out against them? "Do you know when they first started following us?" Jeonghan asked. Seungcheol had told him and Joshua bits and pieces of the information that they had found out, but they didn't know everything. He was worried, because there was a chance that something like what happened to Jun or worse could have happened to them all along. And the worst part is that they didn't pay enough attention to the patterns and the links in everything that if something did happen then they would probably have all been dead by now. He wanted to know what was going on, he wanted to be able to protect his family from all of this. " From what we found Hyung, it's been awhile." Wonwoo told him. "When Woozi and I were looking through the files, I found the start of it." He told them. "Do you guys remember that petty drug dealer that you guys put away when you guys first got together?" He asked. All of the members that were there at the time nodded their heads in understanding. They all remembered that job, it was one of their very first, right before Wonwoo and Mingyu joined, and not that long after they had met Joshua. It was one of the first jobs that they had pulled off that didn't end up with one of them getting severely injured. 

"Yeah, I remember that job." Soonyoung said. "That was way, way back in the old days when Doyoon-Hyujng, Dongjin, and Sammeul were still with us right?" He asked them. "Yeah, that was really back in the old days." Seungcheol said. "What has that got to do with this though?" Minghao asked. "Well, as it turns out that petty drug dealer wasn't so petty after all." Jihoon said. " He was one of the top guys in the drug business that Se-Jung takes part in." He told them. "And the place where most of his clients hung out at, at the time, was my parent's casino." Wonwoo said. "When you guys got him arrested for distributing illegal substances just to start with, it put you guys on Se-Jung's radar." He told them. "And when I joined, my parents and him put two and two together and now they knew what we were capable of and what they could gain from what we do." The others still didn't get it, so Wonwoo pulled up the charts. " These are the records that show the profit, and stock margins for all of Se-Jung's and my parent's businesses." Wonwoo told them. "Every time that we took someone down, they would gain a huge rise in both profit and stock because they had bet against the marks failing and their companies foreclosing or being put up for sale." He told them. "And what they could buy they did, and it turned them into a multi-million won empire." "That's not good right?" Seokmin asked. "No Seok, that's not good." Seungcheol told him. 

Everyone could just feel the temperature drop in the room as Seungcheol spoke to them. This was a very serious situation that they were finding themselves in now, and they had no clue how they were going to get themselves out of it this time. "What does this mean for us then?" Chan asked. It was what all of them were wondering about themselves, but they all were glad that Chan stepped up and asked it. Seungcheol would always tell Chan the truth about stuff like this even if it was scary. He knew that the more informed his little brother was the better he could handle himself if he ever got in any trouble. And this qualified as big trouble. They all sat there waiting for their leader to say something, anything. Out of all of them they knew that Seungcheol would be able to figure out a way to get them out of this. "It means that this is something that we've never faced before." Seungcheol said. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before he continued to speak. "And, well,.. This is something that Soo, Hoon and I have been toying with for awhile in case something like this ever happened." Seungcheol told them all cryptically. All of them had looked at each other curiously, they really didn't like the sound of where this was all going, but at this point they really didn't have a choice in the matter did they? 

"What's your idea Cheol?" Joshua asked him. And this was the first time that the youngest 95 liner had spoken since they all had come into the room. Until then he had just been offering his silent support, along with Jeonghan to Seungcheol. It kind of put everyone on edge, since besides Jihoon, and Soonyoung, and sometimes Jun and Wonwoo too, if there was something wrong, or a plan or something Jeonghan and Joshua would know about it too. So if the two of them had no idea what their lover was talking about then either this was a new plan that they haven't really thought about, or then it was something that none of them would like and he refused to tell them about it in advance to keep them from getting upset unless he absolutely had to tell them about it. And that time seems to be now, rather any of them liked it or not. Seungcheol didn't say anything for a while, they all knew the man well enough at this point that they could tell that he was debating that whatever plan he had concocted in his head was a good idea or not. Finally, he seemed to come to some kind of consensus and let out a deep breath that he had been holding. "Some of you aren't going to like this." He said at first. "And I'm sorry for that but this is the only thing that I could think of that would keep us and any family members outside of this group that you still have contact with." He told them. He turned and took one last look at both of his lovers before he said the plan out loud. "You guys have to cut contact with your families." He told them. And surprisingly the room fell into less chaos than he originally thought that it would. 

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Needless to say that after that much shocking news, it was decided that it would be best to break for now and everyone got their separate ways for a little while to cool off and then they've come back together in about a day or two to decide what they were going to do. Seokmin, Jihoon, and Minghao took Jun back to his room to rest. Soonyoung and Wonwoo went somewhere outside of the apartment. Seungkwan and Vernon and Chan went into the youngest two's room. They weren't really sure where Mingyu had disappeared to, but the tallest member has seemed to have just up and vanished into thin air once the meeting was over with. Though Seungcheol wasn't too worried about Mingyu. Even though he can be very clumsy at times, he's the least likely one of the kids to get into any kind of trouble by himself. And the three eldest went to their shared bedroom to talk about it. Seungcheol went and flopped down on the bed face down and let out a big groan. This was a disaster, a complete and utter disaster. Though he was very grateful when no one blew up at him like he thought that they would, but regardless, that whole talk could have gone a whole lot better than it actually did. While he did that, his two lovers shared a knowing look and climbed onto the king sized bed around their lover. Both of them knew that this was going to be a long night. 

Neither one of them were very happy with what Seungcheol said, but they both knew that it was for the best. And before they all had dispersed Seungcheol had given them 2 options, the first one was to cut off all contact with their loved ones if they still had any contact with them. The second one was that they leave and cut all contact with SEVENTEEN, and they make it to where they're untraceable. When they come back to discuss it all in full, they're supposed to give him their choices. "I love you both, you know that right?" Jeonghan said. Both Seungcheol and Joshua turned their heads to look at the other. Seungcheol pulled himself up from his position on the bed to get a better look at him. Both of them nodded their heads at the other male. Jeonghan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before he started to talk again. "I know that I don't say it a lot, but I mean it, I love you two." He said. He huffed in frustration and rubbed at his eyes to try and get rid of the tears that he knows were forming in his eyes. This caused Joshua and Seungcheol to move over and pull Jeonghan into their embrace. Both of them hated to see him cry. 

"Sshh.. Hannie-ah.." Seungcheol said as he rubbed the younger's back. Jeonghan was full on crying now, and had himself wrapped up around Joshua and was balling into the youngest shirt. "It's okay, everything's going to be alright." He tried again. But Jeonghan wasn't having it, he just shook his head and started to cry even harder. Joshua and he shared a look and the younger took that as his turn to try and get Jeonghan to calm down some. "Hey, baby, it's okay, it's okay Hannie.." Joshua whispered into his ear. "Everything's okay, you just have to calm down a little bit okay, we can talk and work all of this out, but you have to breathe first baby." Joshua told him. It still took way longer for them to get Jeonghan calmed down than either one of them would have liked. Eventually, his sobs quieted down to small sniffles. He was still bundled up in both of his lover's arms, he was quiet and timid and just so not him. It was kind of scaring both of them at the moment. Even when Jeonghan was at his lowest point, Jeonghan never got hysterical like this. It was very worrying. 

After a couple of moments of silence with the occasional sniffle from Jeonghan, Joshua and Seungcheol shared a look between the two of them. Seungcheol nodded his head and took the opportunity that he had and started forming a plan in his mind. He brushed back some hair from Jeonghan's face behind his ear. The younger had recently cut his hair off to make it short, and though it started growing back fairly fast. It was long enough at this point that it covered his ears. He had also recently dyed it back to his natural black color, and Seungcheol never thought that he looked so stunning before in his life. "What's wrong Angel?" Seungcheol whispered softly. "You know that you can tell us anything." Jeonghan sniffled and rubbed his eyes before he was able to look the elder in the eyes. He didn't say anything to him, and turned his attention back to the youngest of the three of them. Joshua was surprised that when Jeonghan turned back around he busted into tears again. He launched himself at the younger and wrapped his arms around him in a bone crushing hug. Jeonghan might be the weakest one of them when it came to strength, but he was a lot stronger than he looked. He started crying and mumbling words into the youngest's sweater but he couldn't make out what he was saying to him. 

Joshua rubbed the elder's back and was trying again to shush him some so that they could get him calm enough to talk this all out. "Hannie.." Joshua tried again. "Baby, we can't understand you when you're crying into my shirt." He told him. Jeonghan pulled back at that, he was trembling very bad, both Seungcheol and Joshua had their hands on him trying to steady him for fear of him passing out. They hadn't seen their lover this strung out and anxious in forever. Therapy with Irene had really done wonders for him these past couple of months, and from Jeonghan had said about it they were really making great progress here. And then all of this happened and threw it all out of the window. When he was finally able to gather some of his composure, Jeonghan was still visibly distraught. "I won't be mad." Jeonghan said. Mad? Why on Earth would Jeonghan have a reason to be mad at him? Both Seungcheol and Joshua shared a look of confusion. They had no idea what the other was talking about. "Mad?" Joshua asked him. "Why won't you be mad at me?" Jeonghan let out a puff of air and rubbed at his face again. Seungcheol had grabbed his hands and brought them away from his face and back down to his lap. "Hannie?" He said softly. "What are you talking about?" "I won't be mad at Joshuji if he leaves." Jeonghan said. And that just shocked both of them. 

"Leave?" Joshua questioned him. "Han why would I leave?" He asked him. Jeonghan sighed in response before he answered him. "This is dangerous Shua." He told him. "And we've never gone up against someone like this before, and who the Hell knows what's going to happen here." Jeonghan said. He turned to look at the younger and never before has Joshua seen Jeonghan look so sad. "You can get out, you can leave." Jeonghan said. "Your mom's still in the states, and you can go and leave and disappear and they'll never be able to find you." He told him. "You'll be safe and you won't have to worry about your mom's safety." Joshua was stunned at the admission. He had already decided that he was going to stay with them. He knew that this was dangerous, and he knows that Seungcheol could probably make it to where he would have just vanished into thin air. But he realized that his family was safer by themselves in America without him there. And he grew very anxious with the thought of what could happen to his new family if he left. He couldn't handle that, so he was staying. "I'm not leaving." Joshua said. Jeonghan and Seungcheol's heads snapped up at him. The two of them were staring wide-eyed at him in pure and utter shock. "What?" Seungcheol asked him. "Josh, man you don't have to do this." He told him. "Think about it some." "I did." Joshua argued and I"m staying and that's that Seungcheol end of discussion. The youngest of them then got up from the bed and stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door closed behind him. Well that could have gone way better. 

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Once they had gotten Jun back to his room and into his bed it wasn't long until the elder had fallen asleep. Jihoon had pulled a chair and grabbed his hand. Minghao smiled to himself as he watched the two interact. He was glad that Jun and Jihoon had finally got their act together and were happy now. Both of them deserved to be happy, and Minghao was glad that they were with each other now. He stood at the back of the room as Seokmin and Seungkwan fluttered around Jun to make sure that the eldest was alright. Minghao chose that moment to slip back out of the room. He felt relieved that the elder was okay and it gave him enough peace of mind to leave the elder for a couple of minutes. Even before the elder had woken up in the hospital Minghao had never really felt that comfortable leaving him alone or letting the elder out of his sight for long. It just gave him a great bout of anxiety, so he stuck by Jun's side until he ended up being dragged away from him. 

The youngest Chinese member of the group sighed to himself as he ran his fingers through his hair out of frustration. He had a million different thoughts racing through his mind at the moment and he just wanted them to stop. He didn't know if it was obvious yet or not, but he really hasn't been able to sleep that great since everything went down. He spent most of the time laying awake thinking about MingMing. He had no idea where the other was at or if he was going to try and do something else to them. Was he really on their side? Or was he just toying with them and stinging the whole group along to have them end up right in his boss's hands, where the guy wants them. He was still absolutely, positively pissed at him for shooting Jun. And he's gotten into this argument with the elder a lot over the past couple of days. Jun claims that MingMing is on their side since he's still alive. His point was that the rouge member didn't miss, and if he wanted Jun dead then he would be. Minghao had chosen not to think to much about that one. But he just has a hard time trusting the elder this go around. Something wasn't right about any of this, and Jun had already gotten hurt once, could it happen again? Or would it be another member? Would they end up dead next time? All of these thoughts left the younger getting a very little amount of sleep in the past couple of weeks. Most of the time that he would sleep it was from how he went so long without resting and his body just crashed on itself since he was running on fumes at this point. He hoped that by going to get a drink of some sort rather it be alcoholic or not would get him relaxed enough to where he could rest for a little bit. He tried his best to hide how bad he was feeling from the rest of his members, especially Jun, and Mingyu. And don't even get him started on Jeonghan. He knew that if either one of them found out how badly that he was coping with all of this then that would just make them worried about him, and they didn't need all of the extra added stress, especially Jun. He just really hoped that he would be able to get some sleep tonight. He hasn't really slept all week and it was finally getting to him. 

When he entered the kitchen he seemed to be the only one in the living part of the apartment. He headed directly over to the cabinets above the sink and started looking around them. It was mainly where Seungcheol had hid the alcohol or had tried to hide it from the rest of the members. It wasn't that he didn't trust them all or anything, it's just that their leader knew how some of the members can get when things go bad. So he had gone and hid it during the middle of the night to try and keep them all from getting shitfaced or something when they all needed to have their head's on straight to be able to get through all of this. And Minghao knew that this was probably a good idea, and that yes, Jeonghan's probably going to get on his case about this tomorrow if he finds out about it, which he probably will, but he didn't really care at the moment. And besides, he wasn't going to drink that much anyway, and he had a pretty high tolerance when it came to alcohol anyway. So it shouldn't be that big of a deal. 

The only alcohol that they had left in their stash from the last celebration that they had a while ago was Vodka. Minghao wrinkled his nose up at the thought of it. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy Vodka, he did, but it's just the fact that it's so strong, and tastes really bitter to him going down his throat. And he only drinks it when he absolutely has too, or he just wants to get so drunk that he forgets everything, even his own name so that he doesn't have to worry about his problems. It really wasn't the healthy way to go about solving his problems or anything but he figured that it would be good enough for now. It didn't take the thief long to take the bottle and pour himself a glass. They didn't have any of those shot glasses that you can find at the bar that Vodka is normally drunk from. So he just bit the bullet and went ahead and downed the full glass in one go. He coughed a little bit as he tried to get over the bitterness as the alcoholic drink slipped down his throat. It still wasn't really enough though to get him even tipsy in the slightest. But it did kind of help him take some of the edge off from all of the stress that he was currently under at the moment. He also hoped that if he drank enough then it'd put him to sleep tonight. The Lord only knows that he needs it. He was so lost in his own thoughts at the moment that he didn't hear someone else walk into the room. He jumped when a hand was placed on his shoulder, and spun around to see who it was with him. Only to end up coming face to face with Mingyu. Great, that's just what he needed right now. 

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"Hao?" Mingyu asked him softly. "What are you doing here?" He asked him. And before the younger could answer, the eldest of the two had already caught sight of the alcohol behind him on the counter. Following the elder's gaze to the bottle of Vodka, it seemed to send a shockwave through the younger's system. He was brought back to reality and realized that he needed to give Mingyu an answer before he went and got the wrong idea and tried to send him to rehab or something. "Oh, um nothing.." Minghao said softly. He brought his hand up behind his neck and started to rub at it, with a sheepish smile on his face. "I just couldn't sleep and thought that if I had a drink or two then maybe I could knock out for the night." Not that long after he gave his explanation, Minghao broke eye contact with Mingyu. The taller male was looking at him strangely in a very intense way and Minghao couldn't handle the awkwardness that came with it. So he figured that he had a better chance with the floor at the moment. God, he really hoped that he could get over this phase between him and Mingyu. He really didn't want to spend the rest of his life being like this with his best friend. Yes, he was in love with Mingyu, but he was determined not to let his feelings come between their strong and true friendship that had started first. He never wanted to lose Mingyu as a friend, and to be honest he probably wouldn't be here today had it not been for Mingyu. He owes him a lot. 

Mingyu on the other hand, was trying to figure out how he was going to approach this one. He knew that his best friend(Wonwoo wasn't here so he didn't count at the moment) was struggling with what was going on with the team as a whole at the moment. But he didn't think that it was this bad already. Yes, Minghao likes to have a glass of wine every now and again, they all did! Except Jihoon, but that was because he didn't have a very high tolerance (Mingyu said that it's probably because he was so short and skinny, but that got a phone book(He didn't even know that they made those anymore, or why they had one) thrown at him so he never brought it up again.) And would just settle for a single beer or soju and just watch everything unfold around him. But, he knew that Minghao only ever went for the hard stuff when he wasn't feeling himself. And Mingyu always worried about him when he did it. Because he knew that Minghao was trying to get to where he wasn't able to think about his problems and let them just disappear for a little while, but he always worried that he would take it too far. With all of the stuff that Minghao's been through in his life Mingyu was always worried that there would be a tipping point and his best friend would end up doing something really stupid. He just hoped that it wasn't today. He loves Minghao, he really does and he knew that it would kill him if anything ever happened to the younger. 

Mingyu ended up sighing and running his hands through his hair. He was frustrated with the situation that they were in now, and he had no idea how to make everything alright again. He knew that he had to buckle down and just figure things out on their own, but it was way easier said than done. So, he reached around his best friend and grabbed the bottle of alcohol. Minghao's head perked up at the movement that he felt around them. He watched as Mingyu reached into the dish drainer and grabbed another clean glass. He motioned his head to indicate that Minghao was to follow him and walked out of the room. The younger just stood there for a couple of seconds shocked. And when that finally wore off, Minghao ran out of the kitchen in search of his best friend. It wasn't that hard to find him though, Mingyu had relocated themselves to the living room. He was sitting on the couch with the bottle of Vodka and seemed to be waiting for his friend. Minghao made no haste and headed over to the couch. He sat down next to Mingyu, but there was still a little bit of room in between the two of them. The atmosphere between the two of them was so tense and awkward that you could probably cut it with a knife. Both of them could tell that this probably wasn't going to be a very fun conversation. 

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Soonyoung always forgot how chilly the air can get at night this time of the year in Seoul. Even though he was wearing his heavier coat, he was still feeling the cool air trying to get a nip at him. He wrapped his arms around himself trying to keep in some of the body heat that he knew was trying to escape. Even though he was shivering he diverted his attention from how cold he felt to go and look over at his walking companion for the evening. When the meeting that they had earlier as a group had ended, Wonwoo had mentioned something about wanting to go and take a walk. And Soonyoung has known the other man long enough to recognise the signs that showed that it wouldn't be a good idea to leave him alone. It was something that he had picked up from spending all that time around Mingyu when him and Wonwoo had first joined. He gave Soonyoung the run down on all of the quirks, and ticks that made Wonwoo work and function as Wonwoo. And on more than one occasion those tips have come in pretty handy. Like tonight for instance. 

Part of the reason that he had chosen to accompany Wonwoo the hacker was to make sure that he was alright. Soonyoung couldn’t even begin to imagine what Wonwoo must be going through at the moment. It’s not everyday that you find out that your parents are the ones behind the whole scheme of one of your friends getting shot and a whole orchestrated plan that puts the rest of them in danger. He just hopes that Wonwoo’s not that far gone to where he doesn't’ believe that he can lean on the other members if need be. He really wants to help his friend, he really does, and it has nothing to do with the fact that he may or may not have a tiny crush on the younger. Nope, nothing to do with romantic feelings at all, just your regular friendly concern. He just wanted to make sure that Wonwoo was okay. Nothing else, and nothing more. 

“What are you doing out here Soonyoung?” Wonwoo asked him out of the blue. From his tone, Soonyoung could tell that he wasn’t really happy about it. He’s never seen Wonwoo act like this before. And, not expecting to hear his voice suddenly, Soonyoung jumped a little bit at the noise. “Um,..because you’re my friend?” Soonyoung said. Though he sounded uncertain, he really hoped that Wonwoo got that he was here for him. “Why are you asking?” He questioned him. Wonwoo just shrugged in response. “No reason.” Wonwoo told him. “Just thought that you or anyone else probably would want to be around me at the moment.” He said. “You know, with what’s been going on with my parents at the moment.” Soonyoung was more than a little bit shocked that Wonwoo was talking about all of this stuff willingly. He really thought that he would have to be more aggressive with the younger, after all for most cases like this, it’s like pulling teeth to get Wonwoo to tell them that something was wrong. “I’m mad.” Soonyoung said. If Wonwoo’s being honest here, then he might as well be too. “You and everyone else knows that, since I’m one of the hotheads on the team.” He explained to him. “But I’m not mad at you Wonu.” Soonyoung told him. And at this moment the two of them had ended up stopping where they were on their walk and were just staring at each other now. “I could never be mad at you.” Soonyoung told him. “I’m upset with your parents though, but that’s another story.” He said to him. And he noticed that after his little spiel that Wonwoo seemed to be not as tense as he was when they first left the apartment, though you had to know the man to be able to tell the difference. But Soonyoung could and that’s all that matters. 

  
“You really mean that?” Wonwoo asked him. “Of course.” Soonyoung told him. “You’re my friend Jeon Wonwoo, and no matter what happens I could never stay mad at you.” Soonyoung said. “You’re not your parents Wonu, I know that, and so do the rest of the members.” He said. “You have nothing to worry about, it’s not your fault, any of this, it’s not your fault.” Wonwoo just sighed and shook his head at him fondly. “Thanks Soonie.” He told him softly. “I really needed to hear that.” He said. “But, I still can’t help but to feel guilty about it somewhat.” Wonwoo confessed to him. “I know that I’m nothing like my parents except for the way that I look, but I still can’t help but to think that somehow, this is all because of me.” Wonwoo told him. “It feels like the guilt is eating me alive Soon, and I don’t know what to do to get rid of it.” Soonyoung couldn’t take it anymore, he turned around and threw his arms around the hacker. And Wonwoo had no idea that any of this was coming so the two of them ended up toppling over onto the ground. Though since Wonwoo wasn’t able to stop them both from falling the two of them ended up landing on the ground with a loud ‘thump’. And he didn’t miss the loud, shrill scream that Soonyoung released into his ear one bit. He groaned to himself since he landed harder than Soonyoung did since he was on the bottom and Soonyoung was on the top. Though looking up into Soonyoung’s dark eyes, and seeing them smile into that tiger like thing that he always talks about, he couldn’t help but be glad that he let the elder come with him.

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While all of the older members of the group were dealing with their own issues, the maknae line of the group was dealing with one of their own. “Are you sure about this?” The maknae asked. The two 98-liners had taken him and dragged him off to the roof of their apartment building to talk with one another. He didn’t know why it was necessary though, both Seungkwan and Hansol had families outside of the group that they needed to protect, all that Chan had was Seungcheol and he was already here. He didn’t see why it was such a big deal to take him somewhere to talk when he already knew what his two Hyungs were going to do. Chan knew that they were going to leave them to go back to their families to take care of them and to make sure that no one gets hurt. And he also knows that it could take weeks, months, or even years before they are able to beat The Black Dragon. And even then Chan knew that they’re actual chances of beating the guy are slim to none. So, he knows that this could possibly be the last time that he gets to see these two and probably a lot of his other Hyungs too for that matter. And he was surprisingly okay with all of that. 

It didn’t take long at all for the youngest three of the group to get themselves settled on the lone rooftop. They had all learned earlier on in their tenure here in the group that the roof was a good place to go and clear one’s head. It’s what all of the members did at one point or another when they were going through something and needed to sort out all of their thoughts. Even Jeonghan has been up here on more than one occasion and the man it’s terrified of heights. Chan can remember teasing the elder for it one time when he and Sammy had dragged all of the Hyungs to an amusement park in the early days. He had convinced the elder to get on the ferris wheel, not really knowing how bad it was. Jeonghan ended up clinging onto him with some sort of herculan grip that the youngest didn’t know he possessed. And as soon as they had gotten off, the elder had run off and hurled into the first trash can he could find. He never made fun of the elder for it again. But the whole point of it here is to describe how calming the roof is and how it’s helped a lot of them get through their problems one way or another. 

“Yes, we’re sure Channie.” Seungkwan said. “Hansol and I needed to talk to you about this.” He gestured to the space around him to indicate that he was talking about the situation that they were in. “Well, what’s there to talk about?” The youngest of the three of them asked. “I know what you’re going to tell me Hyungs.” He told them. “And I get it, and I promise that I’m not made at either one of you I swear.” Chan said. “I get it, you guys have families outside of the group that you love and would do absolutely anything for.” He explained. “And right now they’re in just as much if not even more danger than we are right now.” Chan paused for a couple of seconds before he went on to continue with what he was saying. “The only family that I have left is Seungcheol-Hyung and he’s right here already so I don’t have to leave.” He told them. “I’m not mad or upset with either one of you I swear.” He told them. And when he looked up to see the elder’s reaction he was surprised to see the look of,.. Well he couldn’t really place what it was but whatever it was it didn’t look good. 

Chan was caught off guard when Seungkwan randomly flung himself at him and wrapped him up in a tight bear hug. The younger wrapped his arms around his Hyung and returned the hug and it wasn’t long before Vernon ended up joining too. “I.. I don’t get it.” Chan said after a couple of minutes. The youngest was very confused at the moment. He didn’t know why the elder 2 of the 3 of them were upset. He had already told them and explained why he wasn’t mad at them. He understood if they ended up leaving, and he wasn’t mad at them for it. Though he did have a bone or two to pick with the man after them for splitting up his family. Eventually, Seungkwan and Vernon pulled back from the hug. Chan could see the start of tears in the corner of both of their eyes, but he chose not to mention it at the moment. “I..” Was all that Vernon could say before Seungkwan butted in. “I’m not leaving you!” The older man exclaimed as he launched himself at the younger again, and he was full out crying this time. “I’m not leaving you Channie.” He told him. And Chan was shocked at the confession from the elder. He wasn’t leaving? Why? It was another thing that the maknae didn’t really understand about all of this. 

“I’m not leaving.” Seungkwan said as he pulled back from the younger again. He wiped away some of the tears that had started to collect in his eyes. “I’m not leaving.” He repeated again. “I can’t say the same thing for Hansol though.” He mentioned as he went to wrap himself around the younger. “But why Hyung?” Chan asked him. “What about your family Hyung?” He questioned him. “I know that they are in danger, and I know that they’re going to be in the same amount of danger if not more if I went home to them.” Seungkwan confessed to him. “If I stay here in Seoul with the rest of you guys, then maybe I can bite this thing in the but and keep it from heading down to Jeju to where my mother and sisters are.” Seungkwan said. “I know that they’re my family and I love them. I really do.” He told him. “But you and Seunghceol-Hyung and the rest of the Hyungs and Vernon are my family too.” Seungkwan admitted to him. “And I’m not going to let anything ever happen to you guys if I can help it.” Chan gave him a watery smile and went to hug him again. Even though he said that he would be okay if they left, Chan was still very happy that Seungkwan had told him that he was going to stay here with them. 

When the two of them had pulled back after a couple of minutes, they turned their attention to the youngest 98-liner. Hansol really hadn’t said a whole lot this whole entire time that they have been here. But with the way that the other two were looking at him, he knew that he didn’t get his usual option to just zone out and pretend that he wasn’t paying attention again. He sighed and ran his hand over his face, before he was able to get himself together to where he was able to speak. “I..” Hansol began. “I’ve thought about it and all, and.. And..” He paused again. Huffing he took in another deep breath before he continued on. “I love my family.” He told them. “I love my mom, my dad and my little sister Sofia very much.” Hansol said. “I have a very warm and loving family back home.” He told them all. “But..” He began. “I love you guys too.” He admitted. “I love you Chan, and Kwannie, and all of the Hyungs.” He told them. “And I know that I.. I know that if anything ever happened to any of you guys, my blood family included that I wouldn't know what to do with myself.” He told them. “And I know that I can do more to protect you all if I stay here in Seoul with you guys.” Hansol said as he came to this conclusion. “So I’m staying too.” He said. “When Cheol-Hyung asks me tomorrow what I’m going to do, I’m telling him that I’m going to stay.” Hansol told them. “There’s no way in Hell that I’m going to leave any one of you guys behind here.” Both Seungkwan and Chan wrapped their arms around the other. And somehow they all had a feeling that everything was going to be alright. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know angst, angst and more angst. But you know things have sort of been that way where I'm from. And here's my two cents on the matter. Regardless of rather your white, black Asian, Russian, or you tell people that your purple. Or you'r straight gay, bisexual, asexual, demisexual(I hope I spelled that right), the lists or go on. Or you identify to people as a toaster( I know a guy who told me that don't ask), your life matters. Everyone on this planet regardless or rather they're a human or animal or whatever, your life matters. And I hope and pray that poor Mr. George Floyd can now rest in peace. And I hope that this situation will get better one day in the near future. Have a nice day!  
> -N.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get a little complicated now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, hopefully I can get the next one out sooner than this one. Have a nice day!   
> -N. 
> 
> P.S.   
>  SEVENTEEN's new comeback is awesome!

Chapter 18 

It didn’t take quite as long to get Jun back into bed and settled as it had when he had first gotten discharged from the hospital. So it wasn’t long before Seokmin and Jihoon had gotten him settled and had started on their own thing. Jun, himself was just lounging around in his bed, just watching the other two in the room. His mind was still racing from all of the information that he had just learned from the meeting that they had. He knew it, he knew it! He knew in his heart that MingMing wouldn’t have just shot him for the Hell of it. He knew that even though MingMing had left them, had left him, that he didn’t hate any of them enough to go and do something like this. Jun knew that he more likely than not that the younger had gotten himself mixed up in something greater than what he could handle on his own. And Jun had a feeling that if MingMing had refused then they just would have sent someone else in his place who would have been more ruthless and would have just killed them all. He realized that he would be dead right now, if it wasn’t for MingMing. He’s not exactly sure if he forgives the younger or not, or if he’ll ever be able to, but he knows that he still loves the younger. For the longest time, he was the only family that he had that he could get to. Even when he left, Jun had sworn to himself that he would never, ever turn his back on the younger no matter. And he intended to keep that promise until his dying day. 

Breaking away from those unhappy thoughts and turned his attention back to the two other people that were in the room with him. Seokmin was laying in his bed, reading one of his textbooks for one of the classes that he had a test coming up in. Though he looked to be half asleep and in Jun’s own opinion it probably wouldn’t be that much longer until the other caves in and falls asleep. Smiling to himself he turned his attention to the person sitting in one of the chairs right next to his bed. Jihoon was sitting in his chair with his laptop open and clacking away at the keys, doing God only knows what on there. At first glance it seems like the younger 96 liner was lost in his own little world, but it didn’t take much for Jun to be able to tell that Jihoon was multitasking. He went between working on whatever it was he’s doing and checking up on Jun from time to time. Every so often the two of them would briefly make eye contact with one another and then turn their gazes away. It just sent the elder’s heart racing, and he’s pretty sure that’s not a good thing at the moment. And yes, this really isn’t the ideal time to be in the beginning of a budding relationship, but neither he nor Jihoon ever saw this coming. Jun was more than willing to just roll with the punches and everything, but he didn’t know how the hacker felt about all of this. They really haven’t discussed that part of their relationship yet, Hell, Jun’s not even sure what they are to each other at the moment, but it sure as Hell isn’t anything platonic. 

“What’s wrong Junnie?” Jihoon asked him out of the blue. It caught the other very off guard since he wasn’t expecting it in the very least. He jumped a little bit at the sound of the other’s voice. Jun turned his head to look at the younger man. At this point Seokmin had already fallen asleep, so it was safe to say that whatever they were going to talk about would be in relative peace and privacy. To be honest he was a little bit scared to talk with Jihoon about it. He knew that the young had a very severe hatred towards MingMing now. Even when MingMing was part of the group, they weren’t very close with one another. They got along yes, but they never spent a whole lot of time together, and when the younger man left, well Jihoon wasn’t as upset as everyone else was about it. And part of the reason that there was so much animosity between MingMing and the rest of the group is blatantly obvious. All of them are very upset with him that he had shot Jun. And yeah, Jun wasn’t that thrilled about it himself either, but hey MingMing didn’t do for giggles. 

Jun sighed to himself and ran a hand through his hair. He knew that the smart thing to do was to talk to Jihoon about all of this. After all, they weren’t exactly friends anymore were they? But he really didn’t want to spend the night arguing with the younger. After a while of mulling over this in his head he finally came to the conclusion that he’d just have to do it not. It’d be better to talk about all of their stuff now, instead of just putting it off and having a knock down drag out later. He witnessed part of the last one that the 95-line had and it wasn’t something Jun wished to go through at all. He had never seen Joshua lose his cool before and he never wanted to again. “I was right.” Jun told him. Jihoon looked up from his laptop to face the elder. He knew that there was something going on with Jun, and he asked him what was wrong. That is a very big step for him, normally he’s too afraid to go and talk to people about stuff like this. In the back of his mind he was really hoping that once Seungcheol found out about this he’d be proud of him. But since Jun had gone quiet after he had asked he really thought that Jun had either fallen asleep or just didn’t want to talk to him. So now he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do now. Where was Seungcheol when you needed him? 

“I was right.” Jun said again. “I was right, MingMing didn’t do it on purpose.” He told Jihoon. The hacker sighed to himself, he closed his laptop and moved it over to the side so that he could fully focus on all of his attention on talking with Jun. He had a feeling that they would be having this conversation at some point, but he was really hoping that it could wait until after all of this was over, or never if at all. But, alas, Jihoon was not a person who was ever lucky enough to get anything to go his way. But one can hope can’t he? “Just because he told Cheol-Hyung that he was being forced to do this against his will doesn’t mean that he’s a good guy.” Jihoon told him. “I know that.” Jun replied. “But, he’s right, if Ming wasn’t the one pulling the trigger then whoever else they would have killed me and not thought twice about it.” Jun said. “I’d be dead right now Hoon if it wasn’t for MingMing.” And that was logic that Jihoon could’t argue with no matter how much he really wanted to. He always hated arguing with Jun, because he could argue with you until both of you were blue in the face, and no matter how outlandish his reasoning was, he was always able to convince you that he was right about the topic. It was always a losing battle. 

“I’m not denying that.” Jihoon said. “And I prefer if you don’t talk about you almost dying.” He told him. “I know that at the moment MingMing seems to be on our side, but that doesn't mean that I trust him at all.” He saw the look that Jun was giving him and knew that he was in the doghouse at the moment. “I know that for a long time that it was just you and MingMing Junnie.” Jihoon told him. “And I also know that even though he left you and broke your heart, you still think of the kid like Mingyu thinks of Sammy, and how Jeonghan-Hyung thinks of Channie.” He told him. “But, and you can be mad at me all you want for saying this, but you’re a better person than MingMing would ever be.” Jihoon told him. Jun just sighed and shook his head. “I.. I know that you, and HaoHoa, and the rest of the members really, really don’t like Ming right now, but..” Jun trailed off. It was really hard for him to be able to express how he was feeling about all of this at the moment. “When I woke up in the hospital, I couldn’t really remember anything that had happened at the casino.” Jun explained to him. “I didn’t remember and I had no idea what was going on, and then Shua-Hyung told me, and I just..” He choked on his own words. Jihoon reached out and grabbed one of his hands and started rubbing little circle patterns on it, hoping to soothe him somewhat. “It’s okay, Junnie.” Jihoon told him. “Just take your time, we have all night.” Jun nodded his head and began to collect himself. 

“It broke my heart when they told me that MingMing was the shooter.” Jun said. “I didn’t believe it, and then all of my memories came back from that night, and I was just devastated.” He told him. “I.. I just didn’t know what to do with myself.” Jihoon just nodded his head in response. “But when Seungcheol-Hyung told us that MingMing was on our side, and that the only reason that he shot me was to keep me and all of us alive, I got hope.” Jun said. “I got hope that maybe, just maybe he was still the same kid that I ran away from China with all of those years ago.” Jun confessed to him softly. “I’m sorry Junnie.” Jihoon said after a while of silence between the two of them. “I know that MingMing means a lot to you and everything but, after what he did to you.. I.. it’s just hard for me and the rest of us to be as open with him as you are.” Jihoon confessed to him. “I love you Wen Juhui, and he almost took you away from me when he shot you.” Jihoon told him. “I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to forgive him for that.” He was surprised that after his little rant that Jun leaned over and kissed him on the lips. The two of them kissed until they were both breathless. They broke apart and were panting, trying to get their breath back. “I love you too Lee Jihoon.” Jun said. Both of them had those big dopey smiles on their faces at this point. “So, does this make us boyfriends then?” Jun asked. Jihoon chuckled and rolled his eyes at him. “Of course we are, you big baby.” Jihoon told him. “Now shut up and go to sleep, I’m tired and you need your rest.” 

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In the living room, Mingyu and Minghao at this point were drunk. They lost their sobriety awhile ago, and neither one of them were that concerned about it. They’ve already downed about 2 bottles of Vodka, and Mingyu had found a hidden stash of beer in the back of their freezer. Someone had probably stashed it there so that one one else on the team would drink all of it. Well, whoever did it was right, because that was now what him and Minghao were working on. Even though they were drunk off their asses, and would probably pay very dearly for it in the morning, Mingyu liked this. He liked that he and his best friend(Crush of like almost 5 years) could just sit down on their couch in the apartment that they shared with all of the others, and drink to their heart's content. And they could just forget what was going on in the world around them for the moment. A downside of this too was that all of the alcohol in his system made his feelings for Minghao more distinct in his mind. When he’s sober, it’s still kind of hard to do, but he’s able to push his feelings down and lock them up in the back of his mind to get things done. But now that neither one of them have a filter at the moment, anything can happen to them now. The little voice in Mingyu’s head that sounds a lot like a mixture of Seungcheol and Wonwoo’s voice told him that he better hope that he doesn’t screw this up too badly. 

If only he had bothered to listen to it though. He took another swig of his beer and turned his head to look over at the youngest Chinese member of their group. Minghao was very quiet, a little bit too quiet if you asked Mingyu, but no one does, so he just lets it go. The youngest 97-liner was on one end of the couch, (the farthest away from Mingyu he might add), he was curled up into a little ball and was resting his head on his arms, which were hugging his knees to his chest. He looked cute in Mingyu’s opinion, but he wouldn't dare say that out loud for fear of the younger coming after him with his nunchucks (again). Mingyu just sighed and sat his beer down on the coasters that they keep on the coffee table(They weren’t living in a barn, despite how much Hansol and a couple of the other members act) and turned his attention to his best friend. He knew that something was bugging Minghao, well, besides the obvious of course, but the younger had a bad habit(most of them had this) of bottling up his feelings and just suppressing them until it gets too much and he just explodes. And that explosion never ends with anything good for the most part. So, he was really hoping that he was able to nip this meltdown in the butt before things get way out of hand. 

“Hey,” Mingyu called softly, as he poked Minghao in the knee. The younger just mumbles in response, and Mingyu doesn’t know that if the reason that he can’t understand the other is if they’re that drunk or if it’s because he was being so quiet. But he had more important things to worry about at the moment, like for the fact that he can’t get Minghao to look at him. Part of the reason why he let the other start to drink and ended up joining in was to try and see if it would do the trick to get the younger male to open up to him about his troubles. So far, it doesn’t seem to work. All that they have accomplished so far is getting the both of them drunk, and Mingyu’s not 100% sure if Minghao has just fallen asleep on him now. The younger hasn’t moved in a couple of minutes and he was starting to get kind of concerned about him. “HaoHoa.” Mingyu tried again, and this time he slapped the other on the knee. Minghao groaned and started batting away at Mingyu to get him to leave him alone. “Come on.” Mingyu singsonged. “You know that I won’t stop until you say something.” He told him. And Mingyu could hear the other sigh to himself in defeat. The younger begrudgingly lifted his head and made eye contact with him. It was very easy for Mingyu to tell that the younger male had been crying with how red and watery his eyes were. Mingyu felt his heart break a little bit at the sight. He really hated it when the younger one cried. 

“What?” Minghao asked as he lifted his head. A couple of tears had leaked out of his eyes and he brought up his hands to rub at them to try and stop them from falling. He really didn’t need to be crying right now. He knew that once he started he wouldn’t stop, and then it would snowball from there, and everything would just crash and burn all around him. Another part of the reason that he didn’t want to cry in front of Mingyu, was because of the man himself. It’s embarrassing to have your crush watch you ball your eyes out over anything and Minghao knows that if he breaks down in front of Mingyu then he would really lose it. He doesn’t want Mingyu to think any less of him for it, which in his mind he knows that the taller won’t do. But the other part of the reason is that he’s scared. That little part of his mind that kept telling him that Mingyu would hate him. That he’s not good enough for his crush and that no matter what he’ll never be good enough for the taller. He knows that this sounds absurd, but he can’t help it, he’s always felt that way about himself, ever since he was a small child. When he first went into ‘The Agency’, he was terrified. He didn’t know what he had gotten into until it’s too late, but he always thought about his mother. She was always there for him, ever since he was born. He was the only child that his parents ever had, and after his father disappeared, they were all that each other had left. And when they got separated, they had no one. He always worried about her in his early days there, he hoped and prayed that one day he would be able to leave and go home to her, and maybe take her and run to somewhere where they’ll never be found. But as time wore on, he realized that it more likely than not, won’t happen. And if he’s being honest here, then more likely than not his mother is probably dead, or thinks that he’s dead and has moved on with her life. One of his biggest fears since then was that one day she’d just up and forget all about him, and that’ll be the end of it. And even if they were to meet again one day, Minghoa feared that when that one day would come, she wouldn’t want anything to do with him. But he wasn’t about to tell Mingyu any of that. 

“What’s wrong Hao?” Mingyu asked him softly. And it was only then that Minghao had noticed that his friend had scooted closer to him on the sofa that they were touching. Minghao shook his head at him, he really didn’t want to talk about it at the moment. And even if he did he had no idea what he was going to say, his mind was such a jumbled up mess that he was lucky that he knew which way was up and which way was down. So he just decided to shrug in response and hope that it would have been enough to get Mingyu off of his back for now. But he wasn’t that lucky though, if anything, his response or lack thereof, only seemed to make the taller one even more worried about him. And that in turn only made the younger male even more frustrated. It was times like these that he wished that he wasn’t so in love with Mingyu, because then that would make it a whole lot easier for him to lean over and choke the other out so that he would leave him alone. But his stupid feelings had gotten in the way, and he didn’t do anything because he didn’t want to hurt Mingyu. Man, he’s really gone soft over the years. 

And unlucky for him, Mingyu wasn’t going to give up on him that easily. “Minghao.” Mingyu said. And since Mingyu never called him by his full birth name, it was always either his Korean name, or different variations of his full names or a slew of nicknames. So he knew that this was a serious conversation. The younger lifted his head up and looked at the elder. In all of the time that he has known Mingyu, he has never seen the other look so serious before, he was actually reminding him of Wonwoo at the moment with how stern he looked. “Mingyu.” He bit back in reply. If Mingyu wanted to play the full name game, then he wasn’t the only one who could play dirty like that. Mingyu didn’t react to it though, but Minghao knew that the older was holding back on rolling his eyes at him or worse. “Don’t play with me like that HaoHao.” Mingyu told him softly. And when Minghao turned his attention back to his friend it was only to realize that Mingyu had scooted over even closer to him. Minghao wasn’t going to lie and say that his heart rate hadn’t picked up any, because it did. And he didn’t know when that had become a thing with him, but he didn’t like it. Minghao just shrugged in response again to his friend’s attempts to try and talk with him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Minghao told him. 

The two of them ended up sitting in silence for the next couple of minutes. The most noise that either one of them would make was when they took another sip or something of their beers. “I’m not sure what’s wrong.” Minghao suddenly confessed. And it was so out of nowhere that it shocked both Mingyu and Minghao a lot. “I don’t know what’s wrong really.” Minghao said. “Well, I take that back,.. I know what’s wrong, but I’m not exactly sure how to put it all into words.” He confessed to him. His hand moved up and gesuted up to his head. “My mind’s a big jumbled mess at the moment, and I don’t know what to do or even where to begin to try and sort all of this out.” He explained to him. Mingyu only nodded his head and reached out and clasped one of Minghao’s slightly smaller hands in his own. Said male had to fight back a deep blush at the thought of having this much contact with the elder of the two of them. Man, if whoever is after them didn’t kill him, then Mingyu certainly would, especially if he was doing stuff like this. “It’s okay HaoHao.” Mingyu said to him softly. “Just take your time alright.” He told him. “You don’t have to tell me right now what’s going on in your head.” Mingyu said. “But whenever you’re ready, just come and find me okay, I’ll listen to whatever it is that you have to say.” Mingyu explained to him. He then turned and looked at him, Minghao felt his heart skip a beat in the very least with the way that Mingyu was looking at him. “Okay.” Minghao said softly. He turned and rested his head on the elder’s shoulder and closed his eyes. Being with Mingyu, he knew, or rather felt that everything was going to be alright, and Minghao was so closed to being able to believe it all himself.  


\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Seungcheol sighed to himself and brought one of his hands up to rub at his face. He was just so done with today, done with this week, and if he was being really honest here, he was just done with this year period. And it didn’t really help matters at all that Joshua had stormed off and locked himself in the bathroom to cool down after the two of them had gotten into it. And poor Jeonghan was just sitting on their bed still. Looking over at him, Seunghceol could see the conflicted look on the younger’s face. It wasn’t that hard to tell that Jeonghan was trying to figure out in his mind who he was supposed to go to first to try and comfort them. Seungcheol really wanted to bash his head into the wall, He didn’t know what to do at the moment, and he really hasn’t figured out what to do since all of this even started. God, it was times like these that he really hated being the eldest of the group, all of the hard decisions go to him, and rather every means to or not, it happens. And he doesn’t mind it most of the time, because he can normally figure out a solution to whatever problem comes their way. And if he can’t think of it himself on the first try then he has the rest of the 95-line, and Soonyoung and Jihoon to run stuff buy. And if that doesn’t work then all of the other members together could figure it out. But he’s not really sure if they can do it this time. 

While Seungcheol was lost in his own head thinking, Jeonghan had scooted over on the bed next to him. Seungcheol jumped a little bit in shock since he hadn’t heard the other move and had just assumed that he would have gone to try and coax Shua out of the bathroom. But, thinking about it again, Seungcheol probably seemed like the better choice at the moment. This isn’t a known fact to anyone who meets them off of the street, but it is to the members, and they can all tell you about this. Joshua is the scariest out of all of them when he’s pissed off. You’d think him, or Jihoon, or Minghao, but no, it’s Joshua hands down. Every single one of the members(except Joshua himself) will tell you this fact about him. It’s one of the only things that the majority of them can agree on. So, they all have learned how to deal with each other when someone is upset or angry, and it varies slightly from member to member. And with Joshua, it’s just leave him alone for a little bit, let him cool first. Then once that’s done you let one of three people go and talk to him (As long as one of those 3 people isn’t the one that he’s currently mad at that moment) and those are Seungcheol, Jeonghan, and Hansol. Though they aren’t really sure how that’s going to go at the moment. Currently. Joshua is very pissed off at Seungcheol, they’re not really sure about Jeonghan,( Though Seungcheol really is worried that if Jeonghan had to deal with conflict once more today than the younger was going to pull his hair out.) and they’re debating on rather they should go ahead and try and track Hansol, so they can talk American to American. This was going to be a very long night. 

Seungcheol turned his head to look at Jeonghan when he felt the younger start to play with his hair that was curled up around the shell of his ear. Seungcheol allowed a small smile to grace his face, regardless of whatever is going on in his life he can always count on these things to make his life better. A smile from either Jeonghan, Chan or Joshua, his three favorite people( He loves all of the members equally, but he just says that to each of them so he can live his life in peace. (Jihoon is right, he’s a very whipped man.) He leaned over and kissed the brunette on the lips. Jeonghan eked in surprise, but didn’t hesitate to return the kiss at all. The two of them held onto their lip lock until they absolutely had too since they couldn’t breathe anymore. When they broke apart, Seunghceol reached his hand out and cupped Jeonghan’s cheek in his large palm. “I take it from the fight that we just had, that both you and Shua are staying?” Seungcheol said. Jeonghan wouldn’t make eye contact with him but he had that look on his face that clued Seungcheol in on the fact that he was right. He sighed to himself and brought his hands away from Jeonghan’s face and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m not mad at you.” He told his lover. “I know that you love me, and Shua, and Channie and the rest of the members dearly.” Seungcheol told him. “And I know that you would do anything for any of us, and that you worry the most out of anyone in the group.” Jeonghan slapped him on the shoulder for that one. “And I know that you don’t particularly have that great of a relationship with your own biological family.” That was the understatement of the year. “But you have Hana, and she loves you and you love her.” He said. Jeonghan just sighed to himself, and rubbed his face with his hands. 

“I know, I know..” Jeonghan said. “You don’t have to remind me Cheol.” He told him. “I love all of you and my little sister equally, it’s just that..” Jeonghan trailed off. He gulped in some air and shook the nerves out of his hands before he started talking again. “But,.. I came to this conclusion awhile ago that she’s safer, that Hana’s better off without me.” Jeonghan confessed. “All that I’ve ever done all her life is just screw up.” Jeonghan said. “I promised her that when I’d leave that I’d take her with me.” Jeonghan told him. “And I didn’t I left her there, and yes I know that he probably hasn’t laid a hand on her since she’s his flesh and blood, and that she’d tell me if he did, but the fact still stands. I left her there.” Seungcheol reached out and grabbed one of Jeonghan’s hands and squeezed it hard. “Hey, don’t talk about yourself like that Hannie.” Seungcheol told him. “You’re wrong, you’ve protected Hana from every monster and bully out there, you’ve taken care of her since the kid was in diapers.” Seungcheol argued with him. “She loves you Jeonghan.” Seungcheol told him. “But if you want to stay here, since you think that her and your mother would be safer with you far away then so be it.” Seungcheol said. “I won’t stop you.” Jeonghan leaned over and hugged him tight. “Thank you Cheol.” He told him. “I love you.” “Love you too Hannie.” 

Not that long after their moment, the two of them turned their attention to their previously locked bathroom door. When they heard the click of the lock turning both of them started to hold their breath. Seconds later, Joshua emerged from the room. He paused at the threshold of the doorway, and just stood there and stared at them. And like minds think alike, because that’s exactly what Jeonghan and Seungcheol did from their places on the bed. The three of them stayed that way for the next 10 minutes or so, before Joshua was the one who worked up the nerve to finally break the silence. He sighed to himself and let his shoulders droop a little bit by his place next to the bathroom door. “Alright.” He conceded. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t stay mad at either one of you.” He told them as he walked over to the bed. Both of his lovers parted ways and moved over to make a spot on the bed between them for Joshua to fit into. As soon as Josh was seated, Jeonghan had thrown his arms around the younger’s shoulders and leaned his head against them. Seungcheol ended up gripping one of Joshua’s knees and gave it a gentle squeeze. And Joshua knew that he was meant to take it as a nod of encouragement and love. And it was very much appreciated by the young med student. 

“ I know that I acted like I was mad at the two of you earlier, but I promise you that I’m not.” Joshua told them. “I was upset, and frustrated yes, but not mad.” “I get it.” Seungcheol told him. “I can understand why you got upset with me Josh.” He said. “But if you really want to go back home to your mom in LA then go.” He said to him. “Don’t just stay here for our benefit, if you think that you have to go then go.” Joshua sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He turned his attention back over to Jeonghan who was practically laying on top of him. When the two of them made eye contact, the elder of the two just nodded his head at him in understanding. And it was times like these that made Joshua wonder whatever he did that in God’s eyes made him worthy enough to deserve and actually get two loving partners like Jeonghan and Seungcheol. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. They had bigger things to worry about at the moment. And they all needed to be on the same page for this. 

“I’m staying because I want to stay.” Joshua told them all firmly. “And you guys can’t change my mind.” He added as an afterthought. “Are you sure?” Jeonghan asked him. Joshua nodded his head. “Yes, I’m sure, I’ve done some thinking.” He told them. “And I don’t know if it’s because it’s true or if it’s because I watched too many spy movies on tv as a kid, but I’ve come to the conclusion that Mom’s safer with me here and her there than both of us being in the same country, left alone the same city.” He said. “And besides, Jihoon has it set up to where we can keep eyes on all of our family members.” He said. “And I want to try and stop things here before they even get the chance to try and go after anyone outside of the country.” “If you’re sure Shua, then we both stand by you.” Seungcheol told him. “What Cheollie said.” Jeonghan agreed. “We’ll do whatever you want us to do babe, just give us the words.” Joshua smiled and let out a small chuckle at that. He really loves the two men that he’s determined to spend the rest of his life with. “I love you two.” He told them. And then he leaned over and gave each one of them a kiss on the cheek. And he got two back in return. “Now,” Jeonghan said as he removed himself from Joshua and just flopped back onto the bed. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m exhausted, and I’m going to bed, goodnight.” He said as he rolled over with his back to them and he was out in a matter of seconds. The other two just sat there in awe of him. “You know something?” Seungcheol asked. Joshua hummed softly in response and turned to look at him. “After all of this time it still amazes me that he can fall asleep that quickly.” Joshua just laughed in response and it wasn’t that much longer before the two of them followed after him and all three of them were asleep. And all of them knew that they could get through this as long as they all stuck together. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

For once in his life, Minghao was actually sleeping halfway decently. It was the first time in a long time that he was able to sleep like this. Most of the time whenever he goes to sleep, he ends up staying up half the night trying and failing at fighting with his own mind to let him rest some. He’s always had trouble sleeping though, long before he joined SEVENTEEN and even longer before he was taken away from his mother. It sucked but by the time Seungcheol and the rest of them found him, he had pretty much just learned to live with it. But the longer that he’s been here, the more he’s been able to sleep comfortably. Though these past couple of weeks have done one Hell of a job on both his sleep schedule and his psyche. He really hasn’t been sleeping at all really. He’s just been staying up until his body’s so exhausted that he can’t bear to keep his eyes open anymore and just crashes wherever he ends up. But, whatever he did last night really must have done the trick for him. And he’s going to kill whoever it was that woke him up today. 

Though, the fact that he’s hungover, probably hasn’t helped his foul mood at all. But, he was determined to just play it off and put all of the blame on whoever it is that woke him up. Groaning, Minghao shifted around, trying to find some place comfortable, but instead he ended up falling off of the couch and landing on the floor with a soft thump. Hissing in pain from where he hit the area of his back where he messed up his back a couple of years ago. Opening his eyes, Minghao groaned as he was assaulted with the bright light that was pouring into the room that was spilling in from the window near the kitchen. When he opened his eyes again, he looked around and realized that not only was he very hungover, he was also on the floor, and his whole body hurt. So the thief just reclined back onto the floor and closed his eyes and threw his arms over his eyes and prayed for death. He ended up laying there for a few minutes before a grown from above stole his attention away from his own misery. It made his head hurt, but at the same time he really wanted to satisfy his curiosity and figure out where it was coming from. When he was finally able to get himself into a sitting position he turned his attention to the couch. And there laying on their couch still passed out was Mingyu. He just sat there for a couple of minutes trying to figure out why Mingyu was asleep on the couch with him. It was then that all of his memories from the night before came flashing back to him. And then it dawned on him that he spent his whole night asleep on the couch, cuddled up with Mingyu. He was really wishing for death right about now.  


The younger of the two rubbed his face with his hands, trying to get his migraine to calm down enough so that he could collect himself and figure out what to do here. He turned his attention back to their living room and Minghao saw all of the bottles of beer and other things that were all over the place. Hr was only slightly panicking when he realized that someone could walk in here any minute and find the two of them like this. Taking a chance and by doing so risking the possibility of worsening his headache, he looked out the window again. With how the light seemed to hit everything, Minghao could only guess that it was still very early in the morning and that the rest of the members were all still asleep(Hopefully).That thought alone lessened his worries just a little bit, but he still had to clean up before someone came in and found them. Normally, he would have woken up Mingyu to come and help him, but he just seemed so cute(He never said that) in Minghao’s opinion so he just gave up and left him alone. It didn’t take that long for him to clean up any evidence of their talk last night, though Minghao will admit that it would have taken him even less time had he not been hungover severely. But that’s something to worry about another time if ever. 

When he was done, he ended up plopping back down into one of the chairs in the kitchen. He rested his aching head on the kitchen island, and closed his eyes. He felt absolutely awful, and he was about 67% sure that he was going to end up vomiting in the next little bit. He really felt awful, and he had no idea really what happened last night. All that he could remember was drinking alone, and Mingyu ended up finding him, and joined him at one point so that he wouldn't be alone. The only thing that he can really remember after that is the two of them getting drunk off their asses and just talking with one another. Though one thing really stands out to him from last night. It was something that Mingyu had said to him when he had thought that Minghao was asleep. Though he wasn’t that far off, he was on the verge of falling asleep, but he was still awake enough to listen and comprehend if someone was trying to talk to him. He wasn’t really sure what Mingyu had been talking about to begin with if he was being honest here. Whenever Mingyu gets as drunk as he did last night, he’s really bad about slurring his words, and making absolutely no sense whatsoever. So Minghao was used to just tuning the other out all the time. But just right before he fell asleep, Mingyu had said something, and of course out of all of the things that he could have said, when he had confessed to Minghao that he was in love with him it was the only thing that you could understand. 

Back in the present, Minghao shot up from where he had his head resting on the island. Though he cringed in pain with how he aggravated both his head and back with how fast and jerky he moved his body. He groaned again and grabbed at his head, hoping to try and stop it from trying to leak out of his brain. Right when he thought that everything in his body was going to stop trying to kill him, he stood corrected. When his head had finally just calmed down enough to be bearable until he could find the Advil, he heard a loud shriek, and even louder thump, and Jun’s nasialy cackling coming from the living room. Great, Jun was awake. He loves the elder like he’s his own flesh and blood older brother, he really does, don’t get him wrong. But Jun could get on his nerves, especially when he’s hungover. It was just what he needed this morning. Being hungover, realizing that your best friend who you have a crush on told you that they were in love with you while drunk, and having an older brother figure bother you until you try to either kill them or yourself. What a perfect thought to the day. “Hey HaoHao!” Jun yelled as he walked into the room, Seokmin following close behind him. “Do you want scrambled eggs, or sausage for breakfast? Shua-Hyung showed me how to make them American style!” Minghao once again stands corrected, he forgot to add the part about someone mentioning food and him running to the kitchen sink to throw his guts up. “Okay, so I take that as a no.” Jun said. He then turned to Seokmin who was standing there in shock. “Cereal?” He asked. Seokmin nodded his head. “Cereal Hyung.” It was going to be a very long day. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

It didn’t take long for the rest of the apartment to wake up after the loud commotion that they all heard earlier from their own rooms. The 95-line were the first ones to come barreling out of their bedroom and into the kitchen. Jeonghan and Joshua immediately ran over to Minghao to make sure that he was okay, while Seungcheol took Jun and Seokmin and ushered them into the other room to check on Mingyu. Jun had told him that he had come into the room about 10 minutes or so earlier, and had found Mingyu passed out asleep on the couch. He took it as the perfect opportunity to scare the younger and get a good laugh out of it. He had snuck up behind the couch and leaned over and yelled in Mingyu’s ear. It woke him up and he screamed and fell to the floor with a yelp. But when they came back into the room, they all found Mingyu asleep on the floor wedged in between the couch and the coffee table. Seungcheol sighed and shook his head at them all. On the brightside, at least Jun was feeling well enough with his injuries, and all of the other shit that’s going on to joke around with and prank the other members. But, at the same time he had to make sure that Mingyu didn’t have a concussion or that Minghao wasn’t dying of food poisoning or something like that. They don’t need someone else in the hospital. 

“Hey Gyu?” Seungcheol called as he leaned over the side of the couch. It took a few minutes but eventually he got a response in the form of a low groan from the younger. The young leader just sighed and shook his head. He moved around the couch and crouched down to the floor so that the two of them could be more on eye level even though Mingyu was still laid out on their floor. He better get him up and off of the ground before Joshua comes back in here. The eldest med student had just recently cleaned it on his last day off and he has a thing about everything being spotless. Seungcheol nudged Mingyu a bit with the side of his knuckle and hoped that it would work. “Mmmm… Hyung,.. Stop it..” Mingyu groaned. Seungcheol just shook his head at him. “What did you even do last night Mingyu-ah?” Seungcheol asked him. It was obvious from both of them that the majority of the 97-line last night got wasted. He wasn’t really upset with them per say, but it just wasn’t something that the two of them would normally do, especially with what’s been going on lately. Minghao won’t touch a drop of the stuff if they’re on a job so that he can fully remain clear headed and aware all the time. Something wasn’t right here with this stuff. Mingyu just groaned and gestured towards the kitchen with his hands. “Asl HaoHao that.” Mingyu told them. “He’s the one who wanted to get drunk last night.” He said. And Seungcheol knew that he probably had his work cut out for him now. 

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Jeonghan and Joshua were taking care of Minghao, who was still in the midst of losing what little he had in his stomach to the sink. And in Joshua’s professional opinion it wasn’t a whole lot if any since, most of what he’s seen Minghao throw up is just straight up plain bile. He shared a look with Jeonghan over the younger’s head and they had one of their usual silent conversations. They were both concerned about the youngest out of the three of them, and they really did hope, just like Seungcheol hoped that they didn’t have to take anyone else to the hospital. After what seemed to be about 10 minutes, and what probably felt like an eternity to Minghao, he finally was empty. And after a couple of good dry-heaves he was able to pull himself back away from the sink. Jeonghan then took over and started to steer the younger away from the sight in the sink and the smell that was wafting throughout the kitchen. He turned his head to Joshua and mouthed ‘Can you clean that up while I get HaoHao?’ The youngest 95-liner nodded his head and moved to get the cleaning supplies out from underneath the sink to start cleaning. Jeonghan pushed Minghao out the door and over to the couch where Seungcheol was able to wrangle Mingyu onto. 

“Okay.” Seungcheol said as he clapped his hands together. He turned and looked at the two hungover members on the couch, and alternated his gaze between them, and Jeonghan, Seokmin and Jun who was standing just behind him. “I have no clue what the two of you got into last night or anything, and I’m not mad.” He told them first. “I just have to ask you this one question.” He told them. “Do I have to take one or the both of you to the hospital today?” He asked. “No alcohol poisoning, food poisoning or anything else that you can think of that might kill one of you?” Mingyu nodded his head no, and Minghao just curled up into an even tighter ball than he already was and just groaned into his arms. Yeah, they probably weren’t going to get a whole lot of out of him until they medicated him, and he got some more sleep probably. “Okay, since that was taken care of, here’s some water and some medicine for the both of you.” Jeonghan said as he and Seokmin appeared with two glasses of water and a bottle of pills. Where they got him Seungcheol had no idea since he didn’t hear either of them leave the room or come back. And when he looked back at his two hungover members he found that Jun had somehow managed to squeeze his way in between the two of them and he had an arm thrown over both of their shoulders. Seungcheol really thought that he needed a playbook sometimes to keep up with all of his members, and this was one of those times.  


“Okay, I’m pretty sure that I cleaned the sink, but nobody should probably go near it or tell anyone else what happened in it earlier.” Joshua told them as he walked back into the living room. Seungcheol sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on, and the worst part was that he wasn’t the one who got piss poor drunk last night. Well, that’s just something else for him to have to deal with when the rest of the members came out later on when they all woke up. Well, at least it was an interesting way for them to start their day this time. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

It didn’t take that long for the rest of the members to wake up and gather in the living room. No one was really talkative this early in the morning, though all of them sent curious, and worried glances over at the two 97-liners who were curled up together on the couch with Jun. When they all looked at Seungcheol to see if he knew what was going on. He just shook his head and motioned that they would talk about it later. No one brought it up again, and they all headed into the kitchen to try and get some food. But they were stopped at the doorway by Joshua, he redirected them back to the living room and told them that he would take care of breakfast for that day. Jeonghan slipped in after him to help him cook. And that weirder them all out even more. Something was going on here, and they all were determined to get to the bottom of him. 

They all just ended up placing themselves around the living room and began to talk amongst themselves. Though the more that they talked the louder the volume got(Not really, but that’s how it felt in Minghao’s throbbing head.) and Minghao’s head was pulsing in time to the rhythm of their voices, and he was dying. Wonwoo and Hansol seemed to be more keyed into what was going on, they both shared a look before going over to the three on the couch to see if they were alright. To both of them the only one who seemed okay was Jun, who had a big goofy smile on his face, with Mingyu passed out asleep on one shoulder. And Minghao was curled up into a tight little ball under Jun’s other arm and he had his hands over his ears trying to block out the sound. Something wasn’t right here. The two of them stood in front of the couch and looked at the three of them. The only one who seemed to notice their presence was Jun. “Hyung?” Vernon asked him softly. If something was wrong with the two 97-liners or if they were sick he didn’t want to aggravate their illness. “What’s wrong with Minghao-Hyung and Mingyu-Hyung?” He asked him. Jun just smiled and shook his head at them. “Oh, they’re alright, they’re just hungover because they got drunk last night.” Jun told them in a louder tone than before. He nudged Minghao next to him at that. “Isn’t that right HaoHao?” He said in a high pitched voice. “Uhh.. Loud.. Stop..” The younger mumbled. Well that makes a whole lot of sense now. 

Not that long after that, Joshua and Jeonghan came back into the room saying that the food was ready. They were calling everyone back into the kitchen to come and get their plates. And again, at the mere mention of food, Minghao’s stomach rolled, and he jumped off of the couch and ran in the direction of the hallway bathroom. This time Seokmin was the one to go and chase after him. While he did that, Seungcheol ushered everyone into the kitchen to get their food and to stay in there and eat. But he already got the confirmation from Joshua that it was okay to stay in there since they were able to get rid of the smell for the most part. Once that was done, he went back into the living room and woke Mingyu up and sent him into the kitchen after making sure that there was no chance that he would puke if he went in there. After he made sure that the younger was okay and then went to go and check on the other two. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Meanwhile in the hallway bathroom, you could find Minghao and Seokmin. The younger of the two was currently bent over the open toilet seat and was in the process of dry-heaving and throwing up anything that was left in his body. Which wasn’t a lot, all that Jeonghan had been able to convince him to down was a glass of water and some pain killers. And those came back up about 5 minutes ago. And Seokmin was crouched down behind him rubbing his back in soothing circles and was holding his hair back. Normally, Seokmin really isn’t one to handle puke or anything vomit related, yeah and he’s a med student he can see the irony here. But he’s always been able to suck it up and just deal with it when it comes to the people that he cares about. And that included his friend that he was helping out right now. And he was hoping that things wouldn't get that much worse for his friend. The lights weren't even on, because Seokmin didn't want to make his hungover state even worse than it already was. But, it seems from what he can see that regardless of what he does, Minghao's going to be very miserable for a while at the very least. 

Another thing that Seokmin was good at was reading the emotions of his friends. He’s always been able to do that to people he was close with, and living with Minghao and 11 other people for as long as he has, he’s pretty good at reading him. So he can tell easily that there’s something else wrong with Minghao, besides the fact that he’s very, very, hungover. Seokmin’s actually very surprised at that, normally Minghao can really hold his liquor better than any of the other members. So to see him on his knees praying to the porcelain god in front of him, Seokmin knew either one of two things. The first one was that Minghao had just drank that much the night beforehand. Or the second option was that there was something else going on in the younger’s head that he didn’t want anyone else to know about. He just couldn’t figure out which one it was.  


After what felt like forever for both of the young men in the bathroom. Minghao finally pulled away from the toilet bowl. He ran his hands through his hair and groaned as he slumped against the spot between the bathtub and the wall near the toilet. Seokmin scooted over and rubbed the younger’s head. And he just got a pitiful groan in response. Minghao just closed his eyes and rested his head against the bathroom wall, as he curled up into a little ball. Seokmin was amazed that someone as tall as Minghao was able to curl up that small into a little ball, if the situation were different he would have told him that he was very impressed with him. But, this wasn’t an appropriate situation for him to ask that question, so Seokmin was resolved to just use it for another day at another time. After a couple of minutes of silence Seokmin decided that he might as well go ahead and ask the younger how he was doing. It seemed like the only thing that felt right in that moment. “Hey HaoHao?” Seokmin whispered carefully. He was trying to keep his voice down so that he would aggravate the younger’s headache any further and make him mad at him. The younger just groaned in response. “Ugghh..” He whined. “I feel like I got run over by a truck.” He said in such a soft voice that if Seokmin wasn’t so close then he wouldn’t have been able to hear him. “I know bubby.” He told him. “I know.” 

When Seokmin was finally able to convince Minghao to scoot a little bit farther away from the toilet bowl, he was able to pull him out from his little corner. After some maneuvering Seokmin was able to situate himself so that Seokmin was sitting leaning up against the bathtub, with the younger male leaning on him. “So, do you want to tell me the reason why you thought that it was a good idea to get completely drunk off your ass with Mingyu last night?” Seokmin said out loud into the dark bathroom. He knew that he had struck a nerve when he felt Minghao tense up in his hold. “I don’t know what you're talking about.” Minghao told him. Seokmin wasn’t buying it. “I’m not buying it.” Seokmin told him. “You know that you can tell me anything right, Hao?” He asked him. “I know that Dokyeom.” He whispered. “It’s,.. It’s just that.. I don’t even know what I’m talking about.” He told him. Seokmin just hugged him even closer to his chest. “Don’t worry about it, take your time Hao.” Seokmin told him. “I’m right here when you’re ready for me, and you’ve got the rest of the Hyungs, the Kids, and even Mingyu to come to when you’re ready and want to talk.” And Seokmin didn’t miss Minghao tensing up again at the mentioning of Mingyu’s name. Well, that was a new development. 

“Well,” Seokmin said after a little while. “You do know that you can trust all of us right?” He asked the youngest Chinese member of their group. “I know that Minnie.” Minghao argued with him. “But, I just can’t get my thoughts together to explain all of it.” He told him. Seokmin rubbed the younger’s arms in a soothing motion. He knew that Minghao had his issues, just like some of the other members of the group, some more than others. But he always worried about him the most, they’d convinced Jeonghan to go to therapy, and some of the others have found other sort of outlets to get their emotions in order and let them all out in a safe-ish way. But Minghao is the only one of them that doesn't really do anything with what he’s feeling. He just bottles it up and bottles it up until he can’t contain it anymore and just explodes. And whoever is the closest to him, is the one who has to pay the price. He just hoped that Minghao realizes that he’s not alone anymore, and that they all can get through this all together. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to speed up here for are characters. And Wonwoo is coming face to face with some of his old demons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know that there's a limit on how long a Google Document can be? I didn't, but found out today when I was trying to finish this chapter. Turns out the limit is about 567 pages long. So I had to start a second one to finish it all, but here it is! Enjoy!   
> -N.

Chapter 19 

Seokmin didn't know exactly how long that he and Minghao were sitting on the hard, cold bathroom floor in the dark. He just knew that he's about 90% sure that Minghao had fallen asleep on him. Man, he must have been wiped out to just up and pass out on him. Though that all changed when he heard a light knock coming from the closed bathroom door. At first he thought that he was just imagining things, but he kept hearing it, so he assumed that there was someone outside the door. He was debating whether or not he should get up and see who was at the door. But he didn't want to wake up Minghao if he really was asleep, or to aggravate his friend's headache and make his suffering even worse than it already was. Luckily for him he didn't have to make that decision himself. The door to the room slowly opened with a soft creek of the old hinges that it rested on. And Seokmin could see their leader poke his head into the dark room through the tiny opening. 

Seungcheol peaked into the room to check on the two of them to make sure that everything was going okay in there. They really didn't need another member to end up in the hospital now. And yes, everyone's pretty sure that Minghao's just hungover, but one can never be too careful can they? So, checking on them he goes. "Need anything?" He whispers into the room. He hoped that Seokmin could hear him since he was trying to keep his voice down so that he didn't make Minghao's condition even worse. And he wasn't going to go anywhere near the light switch to the room. Though he was hopeful since Seokmin saw him poke his head into the room. The young med student just shook his head at him. "No Hyung, we're okay." Seokmin said softly as he rubbed the Minghao's back. Seungcheol nodded his head, and opened the door a little bit wider so that he could squeeze himself into the room. He turned around and quickly closed the door behind, so the light that was trying to come in through the hallway from assaulting Minghao's hungover state. He then made his way over to the two males sitting on the floor, and crouched down in front of them. 

"Hey, guys." He said softly as he came in front of them. Seungcheol smiled at them, and then turned his attention to the youngest in the room. "Hey Hao," Seungcheol called as he ran his fingers through the younger man's hair. "How are you doing buddy?" He asked him. Minghao just groaned in response. It didn't take a genius to figure out how awful he must be feeling, but Seungcheol was just making sure that what his dongsaeng was experiencing was just hangover systems and not something else. And it was then that it dawned on him that Minghao was a male carrier just like Jeonghan and Seungkwan. A million different thoughts were running through his head at that very moment. Could this be something carrier related? Could Minghao be pregnant?!?! Okay, he really needed to calm down so that he can think through all of this rationally. "I know buddy, I know." Seungcheol told him. "I know that you don't feel good." He told him. After a few more minutes of the three of them sitting in silence, Seungcheol looked over at Seokmin. "How's he been doing Min?" He asked him. Seokmin just shrugged. "He threw up, but not a whole lot came out, and when he was done he just sort of collapsed against the wall until I moved him over to my lap." Seokmin told him. "Other than that he's just been quiet this whole entire time, I thought that he was asleep until you came in here Hyung." He told him. Seungcheol sighed and scrubbed at his face again, man today was really going to be a very long day, wasn't it.

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While Seungcheol was busy checking up on those two, that left Jeonghan and Joshua to corral the rest of their lovely brood. Luckily for them, that Joshua was able to get the smell of vomit out of the kitchen sink when he was cleaning and disinfecting it, so no one was really able to tell that Minghao had thrown up in it, especially after Jeonghan and Joshua had gotten done cooking breakfast. And per Jun's request, he made an American style breakfast. They had pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and biscuits, along with some fruit. All of the other boys were worried about their friend, that much was obvious. Though all of them were too scared to say anything and voice their thoughts out loud. Jeonghan and Joshua were just communicating silently with each other throughout the whole meal, while they waited for Seungcheol to come back with Minghao and Seokmin.

After taking a bite of his eggs, Wonwoo dropped his fork back on his plate and readjusted his glasses. He rolled his neck, trying to get the kinks out of it, after he had come home last night after his walk with Soonyoung he had picked up a book and had fallen asleep reading it. And the position that he had fallen asleep in wasn't that great for his back and neck pain. Once that was done, Wonwoo turned his attention to the person who was sitting next to him. Even though Mingyu had gotten drunk last night, he was still more sober and lucid than Minghao at the moment. Though you could still tell that the younger was hungover. But Wonwoo was taking it as a good sign that Mingyu was eating his breakfast like he normally would and he didn't seem the least bit nauseated as all. Unlike poor Minghao who from what Wonwoo could gather, if you even mention food around him, it sent him running to the bathroom. He hoped that the younger was okay, but first he had to get to the bottom of something. And Mingyu was his best bet at getting some answers to the questions that he currently had. 

With everyone else being distracted with their own food and their own conversations, Wonwoo took this as his chance to get to work on his little plan. He made sure a second time that no one was paying that much attention to the two of them and nudged Mingyu in the side with his elbow. Even in his hungover state, the younger still was aware to feel the nudge and be collected enough to not make that big of a deal about it. He paused a couple of seconds and sat his fork down and picked up his coffee mug. After taking a sip of his drink to try and get his mind in a clearer headspace, Mingyu turned to look at the elder. He hummed in response, and looked at the elder to see what he wanted. Wonwoo raised his eyebrows at the younger in silence question and he saw the look of realization cross his face. "I don't want to talk about it." Mingyu said softly. Wonwoo just shrugged nonchalantly in response. "I don't know what you're talking about Gyu-ah." He told him. "I didn't even do anything." Mingyu sighed and rolled his eyes at him. "You may not have, but I know you Hyung, I know how you work." The younger one told him. And that just made Wonwoo chuckle to himself. 

The two of them sat in silence for the next couple of moments, and they were just listening to the noise that was going on around them that was being made by their members. And after sitting for a couple of minutes in relative silence, Mingyu cracked, like Wonwoo knew that he would. "Okay." Mingyu told him. "Just go ahead and ask me already." Wonwoo, playing innocent, feigned obliviousness. "I don't know what you're talking about." He told him. Mingyu gave him a look and Wonwoo knew that he better start asking before the younger changed his mind. "So, is the reason that you're so hungover have anything to do with what you and Minghao were doing last night?" He asked him coyly. Mingyu just glared at him in response. 'Bingo.' Wonwoo thought to himself. "So what if it was?" Mingyu questioned. "What does that have to do with anything?" Wonwoo just shook his head at him. "Nothing, nothing Gyu.. Just wondering what the two of you had gotten up to is all." He told him. "We didn't do anything Hyung." Mingyu told him. "We sat up all night and talked." He said. "And drank." Wonwoo added. "And drank way more than we probably should have but we're young and can handle it unlike you, you old foggie." Mingyu jokes. Which Wonwoo replied to with a smack to the back of the younger's head. "Ey, watch your mouth, I may be older than you but not by that much, I"m still young." Wonwoo said as he defended himself. Mingyu just shook his head and went back to his breakfast. Wonwoo doesn't have the whole picture now, but at least he has some puzzle pieces to work with now.  


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Once everyone was done eating and Jeonghan and Joshua had them all help to clean up they moved back to the living room. Not long after everyone else got themselves resettled down in their spots in the living room. And a couple of minutes later Seungcheol came back into the room with Seokmin and Minghao trailing behind him. The youngest of the three of them headed over to the couch and dropped down in the middle of between Jun and Seungkwan. Seokmin headed over to the floor where Chan and Hansol were seated. Seungcheol walked over to where Jeonghan and Joshua were standing at the edge of the room. He gave both of them a kiss, and Jeonghan told him that they saved the three of them leftovers from breakfast. Seungcheol nodded his head and told him thanks. He said that he'd eat after they had this next meeting. Jeonghan nodded his head and went back in the kitchen to put the rest of the food up in the refrigerator. Joshua and Seungcheol ended up sharing a look with one another, before Joshua reached out and took the elder's hand in his own. Seungcheol looked down at their intertwined hands, and a small smile graced his lips. He knew that he could always count on his two lovers when he needed them. He looked up and made eye contact with Joshua again. The younger had a fire in his eyes, and Seungcheol knew that he and Jeonghan would be with him until the very end. He knew that he could do this with them by his side. He just hoped that this next talk didn't come back to bite him in the ass. 

Seungcheol waited until Jeonghan had popped back into the room to call attention to everyone and begin their next 'Family Meeting.' It didn't take very long to get everyone's focus on him since all of them were pretty quiet to begin with when he came into the room. "Okay." Seungcheol said. "I know that what I asked of you guys yesterday was very,... weighted, to say the least." He told them. "And I know that it's a very hard decision for all of you to make, and before we go around and say what they are I want to tell you guys this." Seungcheol said to them. "Regardless of whether you choose to leave or to stay here with us, I want you to know this." He explained to them. "You are still a member of SEVENTEEN, and a member of our family, of my family." Seungcheol said. "I love all of you, you are my dongsaengs, my teammates, co-workers, friends, and most importantly, family." He said. "Whatever you do, as long as you think that it's the right thing for you to do, I'm with you all the way." Seungcheol said. "If you do stay, then I'm glad and I can promise you that we're going to get to the bottom of this and put a stop to 'The Black Dragon' once and for all." He said. "And to those of you who are leaving to go back home to protect your families, you'll be missed and I still make the same promise to as I did to the other, and don't worry you'll still be kept in the loop." Seungcheol paused and took a deep breath before he let it out and looked around at everyone in the room. It was now or never. 

The rest of the group was a little bit stunned. They really hadn't expected their leader to give them that big of a motivational speech. They all knew that they weren't going anywhere. After spending all of the night last night considering what they were going to do, all of them chose to stay right where they were. They loved their biological families very much, but they all considered the group to be their family as well. And one thing that most of them grew up learning was that you never leave your family behind no matter what. Regardless of how tough or easy the situation is, family sticks together and no one gets left behind. And that's what all of them were going to do this time. They were going to stay, and work through this and finish it as a family. Because in SEVENTEEN if you mess with one member, then you mess with all of them. And not one of them was going to let Seungcheol go through this on his own. 

"I'm staying." Joshua said as he was the first one to speak up. In reality they really only had to worry about 5, maybe 6 members leaving. Majority of the members really didn't have that much of a healthy and or loving relationship with their own families. And it was part of the reason why they are all so close with one another. But, Mingyu, Joshua, Hansol, Seungkwan, Seokmin had really good relationships with their families still, and they were the most likely to leave the group to go home and protect them. And even though Jeonghan's step-father is an alcoholic and abusives asshat who doesn't even deserve to inhabit the underside of Seungcheol's boot. (He knows it's a little dramatic, but he really hates the guy's guts for what he did to Jeonghan.) Jeonghan still has his little sister Hana to worry about. He loves her, a lot, and even though they don't see each other that often anymore, Seungcheol knows that he'd drop anything to go and help her. And even though everyone thinks of their group as a second family, he knows that at least some of them would more likely than not leave, but he couldn't tell you which ones would go. But what happened next really did surprise him. 

"I'm staying too." Seungkwan said. And it surprised Seungcheol that the younger one said that he would stay. "Me too Hyung." Hansol said next. "Count me in too Hyungs!" Seokmin said with a small smile. "I'm staying too." Mingyu added. And Seungcheol didn't miss the way that Minghao's neck spun around so fast to see the other, that their leader wouldn't be surprised that the younger gave himself whiplash. Seungcheol then turned to look at Jeonghan who was standing next to him with Joshua on his other side. And with the look in his eyes, he could already tell what the younger was going to say before he even said it. "I'm staying Cheol." He told him softly. "I'm not leaving you, we're in this together." He told him. "Like they said Hyung, we're all in this together." Chan said as he came up behind his brother and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. And it didn't take that much longer for the rest of the members to join him as well. "We're in this together." Seungcheol said, when he realized that he was in the middle of their large group hug. And like he said early, SEVENTEEN is a family and family sticks together.  


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The big group hug lasted for a total of about 25 minutes or so. After they all broke apart from each other, they all just sort of went back to where they were to begin with. Even though one of the hardest parts of the meeting today, they still had a lot of business to attend to. "Okay." Seungcheol said as he was trying to get everyone's attention back on him. "Now, that we have that part out of the way, it's time to really get down to business." He told them. "What's next Hyung?" Hansol asked him. "Well, before we had the last meeting, Wonwoo, Soonyoung, and Jihoon and I were working on this plan." Seungcheol said. He nodded at Jihoon and the younger opened his laptop and started clicking away at it. "We've been doing some more research on 'The Black Dragon' and the possible connections that he has to all of the organized crime units and Wonwoo's parents." Jihoon said. "Have you found anything yet?" Mingyu asked. "Not really, the only thing that I've been able to find is some banking transactions and some more financial records that link this group to the Jeon's." He told them. "But, I was able to get us a lead." He said. He pulled up an invasion like thing on his computer screen. "The Jeon's are having a charity fundraiser event in a couple of days at one of their vacation homes, just outside of Seoul." Jihoon said. He then turned and looked at Wonwoo to continue. "My parents are bad about hiding all of their skeletons and dirty laundry in our guest houses." Wonwoo told them all. "It's a safety precaution in case someone tried to poke their nose into things at our main house." He said. "Though there is stuff at our main house, or there was when I was still living there." Wonwoo said. "But they're probably still there." 

Everyone turned their attention back to Seungcheol. "So what's the plan then?" Seokmin asked. "Well, we'll have to put together a team to go to this charity event." Seungcheol said. "With so many people around it'll be hard for them to pay attention to everyone at once right?" He said. Wonwoo nodded. "Yeah, from what I remember, my parents only really paid attention to their guests that they were doing business with. And had the security guards play babysitter to all of the drunk people there." Wonwoo told them. "But what are we going to do about the main house?" Minghao asked. And it was the first time that he had spoken up the whole time since the meeting started. "What if they have those files hidden in the main house and not this one?" He asked. "Do we have enough manpower to go to both locations and not get caught?" And the young thief made a good point about that. They were down one member, and they would still need more help even if Jun was still in commission. They were in a little bit of a pickle here now weren't they? "I have an idea, Hyung!" Mingyu said all of a sudden. Everyone turned to look at the tallest member to see what he had come up with. 

"What's your idea Mingyu?" Seungcheol asked. He knew from previous experiences that some of the ideas that Mingyu had come up with were a little out there, and not all that practical. But every once in a while, he comes up with a good one that can get them out of a tough jam. So, even though he was a little reluctant to do so, Seungcheol caved and let Mingyu tell them what his plan was. "Well, do you guys remember a couple of months back at that one job that we did when I ran into my friend Jeongguk?" He asked them. All of them nodded their heads collectively. "You mean the one that almost got us all blown up?" Minghao asked sarcastically. And no, he wasn't doing that just to be petty because he was jealous of how close the two of them were. Mingyu had roped him and Seokmin into joining a group chat that Mingyu and Jeongguk had made with a couple of the younger's friends. He liked Yugyeom well enough, and even though he thought that BamBam was out of his mind half the time, he was still a good guy too. And he liked Jeongguk enough, he muses, he just doesn't like how much he and Mingyu talk to each other all the time. Really, they both have busy lives of their own, it just astounds him that they can find the time to text all the time, while Minghao has to pester his giants of a best friend for 15 minutes if he wants to do something with him. Nope, not jealous in the least, just being a concerned friend, regardless of what Seokmin will tell you. Anyway back to the topic at hand here, Minghao can feel his blood pressure rising by the second. 

"Yes, that same friend." Mingyu said. "And that was an accident, they didn't know that there was going to be anyone else there, that's why Kookie was sent up there in the first place." Mingyu defended him. "They wanted to make sure that there was no one up there so that no one would get hurt." Minghao just sighed and rolled his eyes at him. He knew that he was being kind of an asshole, but that's one of the side effects of him being hungover(At least that was the excuse he was using at the moment) and he really didn't feel in the best mood to care either, but whatever. "Anyway." Mingyu said as he tried to get them all back on topic. "As you guys know Kookie's a member of the gang Bangtan." He said. "Okay, but what does that have to do with anything?" Jun asked. Even though he was by no means cleared to go on any sort of job, he still wanted to be kept in the loop of things so that he knew what was going on with his family. "Well, after that encounter,.. We've sort of kept in touch." That piqued Seungcheol's interest in general. "What do you mean by kept in touch Gyu?" Their leader asked him. Mingyu brought one of his hands up and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, what I mean is that we've exchanged numbers, and started a group chat with the 2 of us, HaoHao, Minnie, and a couple of his friends from another group?" Oh boy, here they go. "YOU DID WHAT?!" Jeonghan yelled. And Mingyu knew that he was mad because the elder was never one to raise his voice to anyone. Everytime that he tries it just doesn't take, the only exception to this is when he gets pissed off. "And you two." Jeonghan said as he turned his attention to the other 2 97-liners in the group. "You were in on this?" Jeonghan said. "Do you know how dangerous it can be?" He asked them. "We're careful Hyung." Seokmin said in their defence. "One of Jeongguk's Hyungs is a hacker like Woozi-Hyung and Kookie got him to make it to where the only people who could access it besides us would be either him and maybe Woozi-Hyung." Jeonghan sighed and dropped his head into his hands. These kids were so going to be the death of him.  


"Okay, well, at least they took the time to work out some safety precautions." Joshua, ever the peacemaker, said as he came up behind Jeonghan and wrapped his arms around the elder trying to calm him down some. He knew his lover and he knew that he was about 2 seconds away from his head exploding. "Okay," Seungcheol said, trying to redirect the conversation back to its original purpose. "What about Jeongguk-ssi did you want to tell us about?" Seungcheol asked. "Well," Mingyu said. "The night that Junnie-Hyung got shot, word spread around to Bangtan, and when his Hyungs told him that one of us got hurt Kookie started freaking out and called me to see if I was okay." He told him. "I told him that I was fine and what happened, he told me that his Hyungs were already trying to figure out what happened and stuff." That surprised all of them a lot. "So, you're telling me that Bangtan has been working on this too?" Seungcheol asked. "I'm pretty sure, after what happened to Junnie-Hyung, RM-ssi their leader did some digging and I don't know what he found because he really wouldn't even tell Kookie and the rest of their members what he found but, whatever it was it freaked him out enough that he thought it would be good to try and keep tabs on everyone." Mingyu explained to them. "And Kookie texted me and said that his Hyung was ready to lend a helping hand whenever we needed it, all that you have to do is give the word Hyung and I'll text Kook and it's done." Seungcheol's eyes widened at that. He knew Bangtan and of their reputation, he knew that they've been around about 2 years longer than them, and he knows that even though they are a smaller group, they're loyal to each other and very deadly. He'd never in a million years ever think that they would offer to help them like this. But, could they really afford to turn the offer down and tell them no? He's playing with his loved one's lives here and he wasn't going to take any chances. "Text, Jeongguk-ssi, Gyu and get RM-ssi's number for me will you?" Seungcheol asked. "We have some business to discuss." 

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The whole group dipsered not that long after. It didn't take long for Mingyu to text his friend and get the leader of Bangtan's phone number. He then sent it to Seungcheol, and the young leader grabbed his phone and went off to his room to make a very important phone call. They really didn't have time to waste at the moment. Though he's not going to lie and say that he wasn't the least bit nervous about making this particular phone call. With what he knows about the other group and their reputation, it's a little bit intimidating to Seungcheol. But, now isn't the time for him to run with his tail between his legs like a scared little child. He had to do this, the lives of 12 other people in the very least depended on it. 

Dialing the phone number, Seungcheol sucked in a breath and waited as he heard the other line ring. The anxiety from waiting was about ready to kill him by the time he heard the click on the other line that signaled that someone had picked up. "Hello?" A deep foregin voice spoke. Seungcheol was scared out of his wits right about now. He was on the phone with RM, the leader of Bangtan and he felt like he was about ready to puke. "Hello?" The voice said again. And that seemed to shock Seungcheol back to his senses. "Oh! Um, yes, um .. is this RM?" Seungcheol asked hesitantly. "Yes, it is." The voice, uh, RM said. "Is this S.Coups, by any chance?" RM asked him. "Um, yes, yes it is." He heard the other leader hum on the line and waited for him to speak. Seungcheol still felt like he was going to puke. He was kicking himself for not letting Jeonghan and Joshua stay in the room with him when he made the phone call. But oh well, he had to keep going.  


"Okay then." RM said on the other end of the line. Seungcheol heard some shuffling going on in the background. "I apologize for keeping you waiting S.Coups-ssi, I had to get somewhere more private." He told him. "That's no problem RM-ssi, I completely understand, I had to do the same with my members." "Ah, yes I do know how that feels, but from what Kookie tells me, you have it a little harder than I do, when you try to get some privacy." RM said. "But, I also know that you guys could use some help from us?" He asked him. "Yes, we do, if you don't mind." Seungcheol told him. "Pardon me for a second but what year were you born?" RM asked him. "Um, 95." He said. "Very well then, I'm 94, and you can call me Hyung." RM told him. And that shocked Seungcheol a little bit. "Ah, okay then RM-Hyung." "Namjoon." "Excuse me?" Seungcheol asked. "My name, Namjoon, Kim Namjoon to be more precise." RM...Namjoon explained to him. Well, Seungcheol really wasn't expecting this conversion to go this way. "Um, Choi Seungcheol." "Nice to meet you Choi Seungcheol, now I do believe that we have some business to get down to." Seungcheol really wasn't expecting this. 

Seungcheol then started in on his explanation on the whole situation that they are in and that they just dragged Namjoon and the rest of his crew into. It took a while, but eventually he's pretty sure that he covered everything by the time that he's done talking. He waited for about 15 seconds before Namjoon started talking again. "Well," Namjoon said. "That is a lot." He finally said after a while. "Yeah." Seungcheol agreed. "It is." "But, don't worry Seungcheol-ah, we're going to help you." Namjoon told him. "From what Kookie was able to get out of Mingyu-ssi and what Suga-Hyung could get from that information, they're starting with you guys." Namjoon said. "Even though they may be coming after you and your group first, if they get you out of the way, then the rest of us out there are next." Namjoon said. "And I don't know how close you are with your members, but I treat mine like family and pardon my French but I'll be rotting away in Hell before I ever let anyone lay a single finger on them." He told him. "I feel the exact same way as you do Hyung." Seungcheol told him. "I have my biological little brother, and my... and my two lovers in this group along with 9 dongsaengs that live under the same roof as me," Seungcheol explained to him. "And I'm letting this sick bastard harm a single hair on their heads." "That is good news." Namjoon told him. "And don't worry, three of my members are also in a relationship too." He said. "Really?" Seungcheol asked. "Why yes!, you've met Kookie after all haven't you?" And that was something that really shocked Seungcheol. He wondered if Mingyu knew about that. "And my little cousin has a crew of his own that works with us, and his little brother is also in it, and I promised myself years ago that I would look after them until my dying day." And Seungcheol knew that he would get along very well with the other leader. 

The two of them spent the rest of the evening on the phone working out the plans for the next couple of days. It wa agreed upon that SEVENTEEN would go to the charity event while, Bangtan, along with their junior group TXT (Seungcheol doesn't know what it stands for and he was too scared to ask, so he just left it alone.) were going to infiltrate the main house. At that point Seungcheol walked into the office and had Jihoon and Wonwoo send over the semantics of the house, along with Wonwoo's notes on how everything works and how to bypass things. Hopefully with their combined efforts they would be able to pull all of this off and nothing would go too terribly wrong. One could only hope though and that was all they had at the moment. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

When he and Namjoon finally hung up, Seungcheol thanked Wonwoo and Jihoon for their hard work after the youngest of the three of them got confirmation that Bangtan received their files. He walked out of the room and headed back to his bedroom, he really needed a nap after this. When he opened the door, he expected a lot of things, but he didn’t expect to find his two lovers lounging on the bed making out when he came into the room. Believe it or not, this is a normal occurrence between the three of them. When the mood hits, they just tend to grab the closest person next to them. It was one of the perks that he found when you’re in a relationship with more than one person. But Seungcheol never complained about it before, so why should he be starting now? Like Jeonghan always said the more the merrier. 

Seungcheol, feeling a little evil decided that after the stressful day that he’s had, that it wouldn’t hurt to mess with his partners just a little bit. So he cleared his throat very loudly, and had to hold back a chuckle as he watched the two jump on the bed. And they turned around to see who was there, and their expressions were priceless to Seungcheol. “You guys started without me?” Seungcheol, trying and failing to sound hurt. Once the two of them calmed down and just realized that it was Seungcheol, they glared at him. “Really Cheol?” Jeonghan asked him. “You couldn’t have knocked? We could have been in the middle of something!” He told him. Seungcheol just laughed at him. “Well, the door was unlocked, and I didn’t think that there was anyone in here.” He said. “And you’ve never been bothered when someone had walked in on us before, so what’s different about now?” He asked him. “He’s just trying to irritate you and give you a hard time Cheol.” Joshua told him. “But you’re right, out of the three of us, Hannie’s the one who never really cares if we get walked in on when we’re naked or something.” And that earned him a slap to the chest from Jeonghan. “Asshole.” He said. “Both of you are assholes.” “But yet you love us anyway.” Seungcheol said as he walked over and sat down on the bed next to the two of them. “You’re right.” Jeonghan said.  


The three of them ended up cuddling on the bed after that. Joshua was on one side, and Seungcheol on the other with Jeonghan being squeezed in the middle. They all talked about everything and nothing for a little while, but they eventually ran into a lull in the conversation. But none of them objected to sitting there in silence. It was a calm and peaceful silence also, and it was just what all of them needed after the day that they’ve had. “How was the phone call?” Joshua asked after about 15 minutes after that lapsed into silence. “It went well.” Seungcheol told them. “Namjoon-Hyung said that Bangtan is more than willing to help us, and all he said was just tell him what we needed done and they’d do it.” Seungcheol told them. “I had Wonwoo and Jihoon send over ever we have so they can have something to work with.” He said. “Wait,.. Namjoon-Hyung?” Jeonghan asked him. “You have one phone call with the guy and you’re already on a first name basis and comfortable honorifics?” He asked. “Yeah, it was kind of random and stuff, but he told me his name and asked me to call him Hyung and the rest is history.” Joshua and Jeonghan just looked at him like he had grown a second head or something. 

“Well, that could have been a whole lot worse than this so I guess this is a good thing.” Joshua said. “And Namjoon-ssi said that his team will help us?” He asked. “Yep, they’re going to the main house while we’re at the charity event.” Seungcheol said. “And then we’re going to find a place to meet up and discuss what we’ve all found and see what we can make of it,” Both Jeonghan and Joshua just nodded their heads at him. “Well, since we have that taken care of, how about we all do something relaxing together?” Jeonghan suggested. This made both of his partners pause. “What do you have in mind Hanniee?” Seungcheol asked him. Jeonghan just shrugged in response and looked at the two of them with this wicked look in his eye. “I don’t know.. How about one of our favorite past times for stress relief.” “I think you’ve read my mind.” Joshua and Seungcheol said in unison. Needless to say that they did some very good stress relieving that night. And the rest of the members gave them strange looks the next day. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Meanwhile, across the city with Bangtan…… 

Namjoon sighed and ran his hands through his hair after he had hung up with Seungcheol. He threw his phone onto his bed and rolled his neck as he walked through the door. When he walked into the hallway, he paused for a moment. The apartment was quiet, a little bit too quiet if you asked Namjoon, he had a sinking feeling that something was going on here. If Namjoon remembered correctly, all of the members were supposed to be in the apartment, making dinner, for their younger group TXT who were coming over for dinner that night. That was one of the things that Jin put into a rule when the younger 5 started to go their own way. They had to come over to their apartment at least once a week to eat with them. Jin says that it was because he wanted to make sure that they were eating enough. But Namjoon knows that it’s really because he wanted to have an excuse to check up on and make sure that they are all alive and well so that he can baby them all. Though Namjoon holds his tongue and just let the elder do what he wants, he’s learned his lesson the hard way that it’s just simpler and easier for everyone involved to just let Jin baby them all, and then go on with life. 

“Joon-ah, what are you doing here?” Namjoon jumped a couple of feet in the air and spun around to see who was behind him. He was shocked, that much anyone could tell on his face, and he was clutching at his heart. He was looking at Yoongi like he was about ready to keel over. The elder of the two was just standing there looking at him like he was stupid. “Hyung?” Namjoon asked breathlessly. “What are you doing here?” He asked him. “Just walking down the hallway.” The elder of the two said. “I’m hungry and I wanted food.” He told him. “What are you doing here?” He asked the leader. “I just got down on the phone with the leader of SEVENTEEN, and I didn’t hear anything coming from the apartment, so I got worried.” He told him. Yoongi just hummed in response and nodded his head as he rubbed at his stomach as he walked further down the hallway. Namjoon was trailing behind the elder, keeping a close watch on him.It hasn’t been that long since they found out that their resident hacker was pregnant. Namjoon was pretty sure that Hoseok was so excited that he was going to go through the roof. But even though it’s a happy time, it’s still been a learning experience for all of them. In more ways than one. 

For example, morning sickness is very, very misleading. Yes, Yoongi does in fact throw up in the mornings, but it’s also in the afternoon, evening, middle of the night, and almost anytime that they try to get any food into him. And even if they could get him to eat it wouldn't be that long afterwards that he’d be running to the bathroom to throw up. Luckily, they found that he’s able to take pedialyte and the vitamins that he’s on now seem to stay put for the most part. And he’s tired all the time, which normally doesn’t say a whole lot since the hacker loves to sleep. But, at the moment he’s currently in the middle of breaking his current record for how long he can sleep in one go. And if he wasn’t pregnant, Namjoon would drag his ass out of bed and take him to the hospital to get him checked out again to make sure he isn’t having a depressive episode again. And that’s just the very tip of the iceberg, and from the books that he and Hoseok have been reading about babies behind everyone’s back(Though he knows the maknaes have been doing their own research) things are going to get way worse than they are now before they get better. 

He’s also been a lot moodier lately. Though that was honestly kind of hard to tell at first. But after a couple of days they were able to tell the difference between them all. Yoongi was more prone to snapping at people, and acting very emotional all the time. And they were finally able to figure out what was going on when Yoongi just randomly burst into tears one night after a job. It was just a routine ‘meeting’ between Bangtan and one of their ‘associates’ about business properties to say the very least of it. And with these associates being very difficult to deal with. So, they needed all hands on deck for this one, but they (Hoseok) couldn’t leave a pregnant Yoongi alone. So, Namjoon called up Soobin and the kids to see if they would stay with him. Soobin agreed and the kids stayed with Yoongi from before their left until the time that they got back. And, the job wasn’t as normal and typical as it normally is. And Hoseok may or may not have gotten a small cut on his arm.(In reality it wasn’t that bad, it was fairly shallow, but it did bleed a little bit more than Namjoon cared to admit.) They had called the kids ahead to want them about what happened to try and keep Yoongi from freaking out. But as soon as they walked through the door, he launched himself at Hoseok and didn’t let go for about 3 hours or more. He yelled, cried, screamed, nagged, and cried some more. That was a very long night.  


When the two of them walked into the living room the only people that they found in the whole apartment were Jimin, Taehyung, Beongyu, and Kai. They just seemed to be sitting around watching a drama or a movie on the television. “Hey Jimin-ah, what are you kids doing?” Namjoon asked as he walked into the room. All 4 heads moved in the direction of the sound of Namjoon’s voice. They all were surprised to see the two elders come into the room. They knew that Namjoon was attending to some business, and that Yoongi was asleep. “Hyungs!” Beomgyu cheered as he saw two of his favorite Hyungs(All of them were his favorite.). He got up from his place on the floor and raced over to hug the two elders. He cautiously walked up to Yoongi and hugged the pregnant man, but he wasn’t too tight because he didn’t want to hurt the baby any. And then he launched himself at Namjoon and the force of his hug was so hard that he almost knocked the both of them to the ground. “Hey, Gyuie.” Namjoon said with a chuckle. “It’s good to see you kid.” He told him. “Where are the others?” Yoongi asked them. He walked over and sat on the couch next to Jimin, and the younger moved over to give him some more room. The two youngest in the room were sitting huddled up on the floor,, and were just watching them all silently. “Jin-Hyung took them all to the store, he said that he needed some help and he was about ready to choke Taetae, and Hobi-Hyung because they were so wired.” Jimin told him. “And so he took them to the store to try and work off some of their nervous energy.” Jimin told them. 

“Well that explains why it’s so quiet in here.” Namjoon said, as he tried to pry his baby cousin off of him. And when that didn’t work he just tried to shuffle them over to the armchair that was next to the couch. This behavior was making Namjoon worried a little bit. The only time that Beomgyu ever acts this clingy to him was when he was going through one of his rough days. Even though he suffered a lot of childhood trauma, he’s still one of the happiest people in the world. But even he has his own rough days sometimes. That was part of the reason that him and Soobin were not only in the same group, but they also shared a room. Beomgyu is also prone to night terrors, they were awful when the three of them were kids. He can remember holding his sister, and his mother holding Soobin back as his father was trying to do everything in his power to try and calm the youngest down. They’ve gotten better as he’s gotten older so he doesn’t have them a lot. But while they’ve calmed down in frequency, when he does have they’re amped up in power. In other words, it sucks, and his emotions are all over the place, and he will find any excuse to stick himself to Soobin, Namjoon or Yoongi. Over the years that they’ve known each other, Beomgyu has grown pretty attached to the hacker. They’ve bonded over their childhoods and male carrier status. It’s an interesting relationship in Namjoon’s opinion, but it’s help ed the both of them so he just lets them be. 

“So do you know when they’re coming back?” Yoongi asked them. “I don’t know, Jin-Hyung said that it wouldn’t take long, but everytime he says that he takes forever.” Jimin told him as he slumped down in his seat. Which was true, the only way that Jin ever got anything down on time when he went grocery shopping was when he went by himself, or he just took one person(Yoongi) with him. And since Yoongi was asleep, he had about 11 mouths to feed beside himself, and a bunch of people bouncing off the walls, he was at his wit’s end. So he dragged Hoseok, Taehyung, Jeongguk, Yeonjun, and Soobin with him to the store. And he left Jimin to babysit the three youngest while Namjoon was on the phone and Yoongi was taking a nap. They haven’t been seen since. And Namjoon wasn’t going to lie, he was starting to get a little bit concerned that Jin might have finally snapped and killed them all. But, luckily just as he was thinking that, he heard their front door burst open and slam into the wall. The noise was loud enough that it made all of them jump. “Yay! Jung Hoseok! I told you to be careful with the door, you moron!” They heard Jin yell from the doorway. “Idiot.” Yoongi muttered underneath his breath. 

It didn’t take that long to get all of the people and food back into the apartment. Though it wasn’t hard to miss since Jin was nagging all of them the whole time. As soon as Hoseok noticed that Yoongi was awake, he dropped his bags on the counter and ran over to his pregnant partner. And it was a good thing that Yoongi had gotten up, or else Hoseok would have tripped and fallen and landed on the two youngest. He picked his Hyung up in a huge hug and spun him around again. This was something that happened frequently ever since they found out that he was pregnant. “Hyung!” Hobi said. “How was your nap?” He asked him after they sat him down. “Fine.” Yoongi told him. “Now put me down.” “Sorry.” And while they did that Beomgyu took off like a jet out of Namjoon’s lap and made a b-line straight for his older brother. “Soobin-Hyung!” Beomgyu shouted as he launched himself at the elder. “Nice to see you too Cookie.” Soobin said. “Are you hungry?” He asked him. Beomgyu nodded. “Then get ready, because this is going to be an experience.” Jin popped up from the back of the kitchen. “Now, where’s that disaster of a cousin that I somehow love?” “Right here Hyung.” Namjoon said as he walked into the room. And Jin directed everyone to their own special task as he began to cook. Namjoon wasn’t allowed to do much but watch, but it put things into perspective for him. This was his family, he loved them and would do anything for them. And he’d be damned if he let anyone, and he means anyone harm a single hair on any of their heads. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

…… A couple of days later….. 

“Are you sure about this Wonwoo?” Seungcheol asked over the comm unit. “We still have enough time for you to turn back and we can send someone else in.” He suggested. Wonwoo shook his head, then paused when he realized that Jihoon was probably the only one who could see him. “No, no, I’m okay Hyung, I promise.” Wonwoo told them. And he hoped that he had enough self-control left that he was able to keep his voice steady enough for the elder to believe him. Thankfully, it worked, or Seungcheol was just too frustrated to argue with him anymore. Either way, he ended up being left alone for the next couple of hours. Which was okay in his book. He just wanted to get this done and over with. 

Even though he wasn’t being honest with his leader, he was being honest with himself for tonight. He knew that going into this charity event that his parents were hosting was a very bad idea. He knew that, but he was going in anyway. More likely than not, his parents know in detail what’s been going on and who’s behind all of the attacks on his family. And he wasn’t going to stand for it. He was determined that his mother was going to tell him the information that he needed and then they could take them all down. And to be able to do that, he had to go and enter in the Lion’s Den. He sucked in a deep breath and walked through the front door of his family’s old vacation home. It was now or never. 

It had taken all of them about a whole day to get from Seoul to Busan by the time that they got everything ready. It was a long, and very boring drive too, but Wonwoo wasn’t one to really complain(Shut up Soonyoung!) so he just sat there. He was nervous the whole way too, but he was trying his best to keep himself calm enough to pass off as his regular self. And he was hoping that he was doing enough of a good job so that none of the other members would notice that he was upset. He thinks that it worked for the most part but he really wasn’t sure. They had to take all three of their cars to get to Busan today. Normally, it’s faster to go by train, but they had so many people and equipment to lug around. And they were trying to make it to where they would be almost impossible to track. That way, their presence there tonight would really be a surprise for his parents. Wonwoo felt like he was going to puke the whole way there.(And he’s not one to get carsick.” 

Seungcheol, Chan, Jun, and Seungkwan were all in one car together. Jeonghan, Joshua, Hansol ,and Seokmin were in the other. And Wonwoo, Jihoon, Soonyoung, Mingyu and Minghao were in the last one. Wonwoo wasn’t all that sure how they were able to fit all five of them into that last car considering how tiny it was, but they somehow made it work. Luckily Mingyu’s family also had a house in Busan, and since they were all out of the country, Mingyu had free rein over it, so they were all staying there. And that was more than what he thought this weekend had going for them. He just really hoped that the 95-line wouldn’t do it in the house with all of them in it or at all. But with his luck, they wouldn’t be that lucky. He just hopes that he can make it out of the event tonight without Jeonghan trying to make an attempt on his mother’s life. He wouldn't put it past the elder to do it either. He loved his Hyung he really did, but man he could be down right terrifying when he really wanted to be. He just hoped and prayed that he could make it through the night. (And he wasn't that religious either.) 

Just like Wonwoo had suspected, it was a breeze for him to get into the event. Even when he left home and never came back, his mother had still made it known that should he ever turn up at any home or event, or business that was attached to them, Wonwoo was allowed to come. He thinks that she thought that he’d come home at one point, she was wrong. And her decision was just about ready to come back and bite her in the ass. That thought alone was able to boost his almost non-existent confidence either. But what can you do? All that Wonwoo wants to do tonight is to go in, get what he needs without a big fuss, leave, and never see his family ever, ever again. Is that too much for him to ask? 

Just like he had predicted, it was a breeze for him to get in. The guard at the entrance saw him, and when he told him his name, just waved him on through. For the most part he was able to just blend into the background and go pretty much unnoticed by the other guests. Since it’s been a good couple of years since he’s attended one of these things, everyone has forgotten what he looks like. That fact alone was making his job way easier than it needed to be but he wasn’t complaining about it in the slightest. With the music blaring throughout the house, the people conversing around him, and the soft chatter of his members that he could hear through his ear piece, it was almost enough to make him almost forget how nervous he was about tonight. Key word here being almost. But as soon as he got into the center of the whole event, he felt his heart skip a beat. And he really wished that he could go home now.  


There standing directly in the middle of the room, the center of everyone’s attention, was his mother. Even though it’s been years since he’s last seen the woman, she hasn’t really changed that much. (Though he thinks that it’s probably due to plastic surgery.) And even though they’re trying to take down his parents once and for all (It was his own idea for God’s sake!), he’s still pretty hesitant about doing anything to them. Maybe it’s because they’re his family, and they raised him (The Nannies did, they never came near him unless they had to.) for most of his life. Despite what everyone probably thinks, he does in fact love his parents, he hates them too, don’t get him wrong about that, but there’s a part of him that still loves them deep down. And right now that small part of him really is against him doing this. But then he starts to think back on all of his childhood memories. How his parents were never there when he was sick or sad. They missed everything in school that he was a part of. How Mingyu and his little sister were the only ones who would play with him when they were children. And not to mention how once he got old enough he spent more time over at the Kim’s place than he did his own. Those thoughts alone were enough for him to overcome that little voice in his head that was telling him he had to do this. That it was the right thing for him to do. And if he didn’t then his friends, if not someone else who is innocent would end up very hurt or worse.. Dead. And Wonwoo wasn’t going to let that happen to anyone. 

Steeling himself, he walked more into the room. He was slightly anxious, and he was doing everything in his power to get them under control so that he could confront her. His mother was one of those women who gave you the impression that she was a harmless little thing that could do you no harm. But the ugly truth of the matter was that she was more dangerous and deadlier than his father and majority of the people that they do business with that no one knows about. Wonwoo loved his mother, and was terrified to death of her, but she lost his respect a long time ago. And he was banking on the fact that he lost respect for her, to get him in the right mindset so that he could interact with her. He learned early on in his childhood that if he didn’t prepare himself for having a conversation with his mother then she would have all of the power in it and win. He had to go in with a strong front so that she couldn’t manipulate him into doing what she wanted him to do. As he got older, he got better at being immune to her persuasion, but he was still quite vulnerable to her tricks that she loved to use on him. It drove him nuts when he was a little kid, but now he’s not a little kid anymore. Hopefully he can go in and show her that and get the information that he needed from her. It was the only way that he was going to get anything done. 

So far she didn’t seem to notice that he was approaching her. His mother was too busy talking with her charity friends, and being the center of attention to really see anything around her. That was also one of the things that Wonwoo was banking on helping their side of things. When his mother got self-absorbed in herself, she really got self-absorbed. Almost nothing will get her back into the real world until the high wore off. Wonwoo knows that from first hand, personal experience. One time when he was 7, he had fallen and broke his foot, he laid on the lawn for hours and screamed and cried for help, for his mother, his father, anyone. Eventually one of the groundskeepers was doing their rounds and found him, and called an ambulance. He later found out that his mother was inside the whole time, and had heard him crying but was too busy doing her at home spa treatments to do anything about it. And when his father got home a couple of hours after his foot got put in a cast, he didn’t say anything. But this time was going to be different. His mother was going to listen to him whether she liked it or not and was going to give him the answers that he needed. She was going to acknowledge that he was no longer a child, but a man, his own man, and that he was going to do anything to protect his family. He stopped right behind her, and paused as he saw all of her friends freeze at his presence. He could picture in his head how his mother’s face had contorted into confusion at the sudden stop of conversation. He steeled himself as she turned around and saw that he was there. He paid little to no attention to her reaction and opened his mouth. “Hello, mother.” Wonwoo said. “How’s it going?” He asked her.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And to those of you who celebrate it, Happy 4th of July! And stay safe out there.   
> -N.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night of the Charity Event Continued and the aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the last chapter for a while. After this I'm going to do some housekeeping on the one shots, and then hopefully finish out the rest of the Voltron Series that I' writing. Then after that it's back to this to finish it out. Hope you enjoy and have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 20

_Previously on SEVENTEEN......_

_He steeled himself as she turned around and saw that he was there. He paid little to no attention to her reaction and opened his mouth. "Hello, mother." Wonwoo said. "How's it going?"_

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

"Wonwoo." Was all that his mother could say. And Wonwoo had to stop himself from smiling at the pure satisfaction that he got from the fact that his mother was shocked to see him. "What are you doing here?" She asked him. And she was looking around at her friends, more likely than not seeing their reactions and trying to think of something off the top of her head to explain this. "I thought that you were busy studying abroad dear." She told him. And she even had the nerve to walk up to him and link their arms together. "You never told me that you were coming home or I would have prepared for this better." Wonwoo wanted to gag. "Well, sorry mother, but I wanted to surprise you." He told her. He had a smirk on his face and to anyone else it would look like a son who's happy that he was able to pull one over on his mother. But Wonwoo could tell by the look in his mother's eyes that she saw through it as what it really was. A smirk of victory. "Are you surprised?" He asked her coyly. His mother gritted her teeth into a somewhat ghoulish smile in his opinion and plastered on a happy tone for the guests. "Oh! But of course!" She said in a fake jovial tone. "I'm so happy you're here." She said. "Now, if you excuse us for just a moment my dear friends." His mother said. "I would like to catch up with my son in private." And she roughly grabbed Wonwoo by the arm and dragged him off to another room. 

The two of them walked in silence through the rest of the guests that were filling up the room off to one of the private hallways. Both he and his mother checked both ways to make sure that they were alone before moving on. His mother had him reach up and pull on one of the light fixtures on the walls. A section of the wall broke away and moved back and showed a little secret passageway. She dragged him through and the wall section closed behind him. The two of them walked in silence for a few more minutes down the long hallway before coming to a stop at it. In front of them was a door, his mother reached into the pocket of her black dress coat and pulled out a key chain. She flung through them before stopping on the one that she was looking for. A little silver key, with a black and purple skeleton on the end, with shining red eyes. Mrs. Jeon inserted it in the lock and opened the door. She pushed it back and motioned for her son to enter before her. Wonwoo walked in and was still trying to keep up his unbothered facade. His mother was right on his heels and closed the door behind them. She reached over to the wall and flipped on the lights. In the room was a small table and a couple of chairs. It was very barren, though that much was to be expected. This was the room that his family conducted business in whenever they went out of town and came to Busan. Him and his mother were just staring at each other and eventually his mother broke contact and motioned for him to sit. The two of them sat down and it was like they were preparing for a face-off. Wonwoo just hoped that he had enough power to win this one. 

"So, I assume that you didn't just come here tonight for a social call?" His mother questioned after about 5 minutes of the two of them just sitting in silence. "Well, you've thought right, mother." Wonwoo answered her. "I came here tonight for a special reason." He told her. His mother hummed and looked down at her hands. Wonwoo noticed that she was playing with her rings. And over the years he has come to realize that his mother only does that when she feels the least bit anxious. It was a way for her to keep her cool and yet look bored and indifferent to the world going on around her. "Well." His mother said. "Spit it out already." She told him. Wonwoo chuckled at that. "All these years.." He said. "All of these years, and yet even now you still don't give a shit about me do you?" He asked her in a low voice. His mother didn't respond to his question. She just looked at him, and that was enough of an answer for Wonwoo. "I'm here for some information." Wonwoo told her. "And I believe that you have what I'm looking for." That got his mother's attention. 

"I don't know what you're talking about." His mother told him. "I don't know anything of any importance to anyone." And they both knew that she was lying to him through her teeth. "Now, mother, you always told me growing up that it was wrong to lie to your family." Wonwoo told her. "So don't even try to lie to me." "I may know some things.." His mother said. "But, I have no idea why you would want to know anything that I do." She told him. "Quit playing with me mother, we both know why I'm here." Wonwoo told her brashly. "Well, you know why you're here, so why don't you enlighten me my dear son, since your mother is clueless here?" Wonwoo sighed and rolled his eyes at her. He wasn't going to let her get away with manipulating him once again. "A couple of months ago. One of my friends got hurt." Wonwoo told her. "And when we tracked down who did it, they gave us some information that led back to some people." He told her. "And one of those people are you mother." And looking her in the eyes, his mother didn't seem to be the least bit shocked by this. 'Typical.' Wonwoo thought to himself. His mother had always been a whole lot smarter than people gave her credit for. And she used it to her full advantage every time. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

"It sure is a shame what happened to your friend Junhui isn't it?" She asked. "That is his name isn't it? I hope that I got it right." She told him. "What kind of a mother would I be if I didn't know the names of my son's friends." "Glad to see that we're on the same page now." Wonwoo told her. "You sent MingMing to come after us, why?" He asked her. "Why? Did you want me back so badly that you would resort to murder to try and get me back?" He asked. His mother just shrugged her shoulders. "Seemed like a good idea at the time." His mother said. "We get SEVENTEEN out of the way, and out of our business, keep the partnership with the Black Dragon, and our prodigal son returns home, all's well that ends well I say." She told him. "But that low-life MingMing didn't have the guts to go through with it though did he?" She questioned. "After all your precious Jun is still alive isn't he?" "No thanks to you." Wonwoo told her. 

"So what is it that you want to know?" His mother finally asked him. She was probably sick and tired of being here in her house, and wanted rid of him without having that big of a fuss about it being made. "You know what I want to know, mother." Wonwoo told him. "Why are you guys coming after us, and how can we stop you." He told her. His mother didn't even flinch at how harsh his tone was with her. "And why should I do that?" She asked him. "I know you just won't do it because I'm your son." Wonwoo told her. "I'm smarter than that." He told her. "You'll do it or else." He threatened her. And that just made her laugh at him, which is exactly where he wanted her. Now it was time to release the bomb-shell. "And why should I be scared of you and your little play group?" His mother asked. "Jun got shot the last time you tried to go against us, remember?" She told him. "Well, if you must know, we have more dirt on you than that." Wonwoo told her. "You know something, Dad never changed any of the passcodes to all of those files with all of the stuff that he didn't want anyone to know about him." He told her. He paused and looked at her, hoping for a reaction that he could go off of. She seemed to be curious so he went on.  


Wonwoo smirked to himself and pulled out his phone and opened his files. Even though the walls of the secret passage were so thick that it made it hard for cell phone signal and the comms to come through, Woozi was able to upgrade his phone so that he could get on his files. "Let me see, what do we have here?" Wonwoo asked out loud. "We have all of dad's secret stash of pornograpghy." He told her. "Though that wouldn't do that much damage after, Dad has needs to, and we've all done it too." He said. "Then there's the number of every mistress and hooker that he's ever been with since I was 4." Wonwoo told her. And he could tell just by the way that her breathing hitched that she was pissed off at him. "Affairs are just something that happens nowadays between couples. It is something that I have come to find out." He told his mother. "But, the real scandal comes from the fact that most of the phone numbers, and contact information on these lists belong to are men." And he really thought that his mother was going to blow a vein or something. "And I know you mother, and I know that you're too vain and prideful to let your wealthy, high society friends find out that your beloved husband has been stepping out on you for years with men." Wonwoo told her. "Now talk mother, or all of this gets leaked to every single press syndicate that I can find world wide." "Why.." His mother began. "Why are you doing this to me, I'm your mother? "She asked him softly. And this is the first time ever in his life that Wonwoo has heard her this broken. "Like you told me the day that I left home all of those years ago." Wonwoo told her. "You are no son of mine." He paused. "So, you have a choice to make mother, and time's running out if I don't get back to my team soon then they'll have the go ahead to leak this out and then your life's over." He told her. "What's your choice?" And for once, Wonwoo finally was able to win against his mother and that made him feel really good inside. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Jeonghan was worried. It's been almost an hour since he last had visuals on Wonwoo. When they had gotten there, they had split up into little groups so that it would be harder for them to be noticed. Even though they had gotten a lot of information off of that flash drive that MingMing gave them, they still were unsure if they knew what they all looked like. So to just be on the safe side, they had all gotten haircuts and changed their hair colors. They all went dark, and natural colors, with some blondes mixed in. Jeonghan himself had dyed his hair a dark chestnut brown color. He had it pulled back with a hair tie and was wearing his glasses for tonight. It's been a while since he had last worn his glasses. And his hair was finally starting to grow out after he had cut it last. But that didn't help his worries at all. He just had a bad feeling that something was bad was about to happen, but he didn't know what it was or how to stop it. 

Jihoon, Joshua, Seokmin, and Jun stayed behind at Mingyu's family's house. While him, Seungcheol, Wonwoo, Mingyu, Minghao, Soonyoung, Chan, Hansol and Seungkwan went to the party. Minghao, and Soonyoung broke off and went in through the air ducts, to try and get to the safe that Wonwoo said was in the home office on the second floor. Chan stuck with Hansol, and the two of them were posed as waitstaff. They were tasked with going around and feeling the crowd out. If they found or heard anything that they thought was important then they were supposed to report back to Seungcheol and get the Hell out of there. Seungkwan was with Mingyu and he was supposed to pretend to be Mingyu's friend so that they could move freely about the room. Seungcheol and Jeonghan were pretty much by themselves. Seungcheol was moving around the room as a guest, just watching and waiting over all of them. Jeonghan had tried to get him to wait in the car, but he had refused. He told him that he wasn't going to let all of them go in by themselves. Jeonghan was doing the same thing for the most part, but he was also tasked with watching over Wonwoo. Which he was doing until his mother had dragged him away and he couldn't follow them without getting them all caught. And that just made him worry even more.  


After walking around the room, and not being able to find any sign of Wonwoo or his mother, Jeonghan was starting to freak out just a little bit. He was jittery and nervous and he felt about 5 seconds from throwing up. So he went to the bar and ordered a ginger ale hoping that it would calm down his turbulent stomach. He got the drink and thanked the bartender and took a hesitant sip of it. His nerves were so fried that he didn't even notice it when someone had walked up behind him. He jumped a little when he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry." A voice said. Jeonghan knew that voice. He spun around and saw that Seungcheol was standing behind him, and he had a sheepish smile plastered on his face. "Sorry." He told him, and Seungcheol pulled up a seat next to him at the bar. He motioned for Jeonghan to join him and he wasn't going to deny the elder any. "How's your stomach?" Seungcheol asked him. And Jeonghan turned to look at him, both of his lovers had gone and dyed their hair back to their natural black color. And Seungcheol's had started to curl up from where he was setting so much and he had on his glasses, and Jeonghan never thought that he looked so beautiful before. When he realized that he still hadn't said anything and that Seungcheol was waiting for his answer, he snapped out of it. "I'm okay, just worried." Jeonghan told him. And he didn't even have to look at Seungcheol to know that the elder wasn't believing him. 

Jeonghan brushed some of the hair back behind his ear, and was fiddling with the comm link tucked into his ear. He turned around and looked around the room again, he was hoping that he could get a glimpse of Wonwoo when he returned. So far he hasn't seen them yet, and it has been over an hour now and he was really starting to worry. "He's going to be okay." Seungcheol told him. "You know this." Jeonghan shook his head. " I know that, but I still can't help but worry." Jeonghan told him. And it was then that his stomach did another flip and tried to come out through his throat. He took a deep breath and had another sip of his drink. He closed his eyes and placed a hand on his stomach hoping that it would settle. It didn't but it wasn't as bad as before so he figured that he would be okay for now. "Han?" Seungcheol asked. Jeonghan hummed and turned his head. They were speaking in whispers even though they were the only two at the bar and the bartender was too busy flirting with a female patron to notice them. But they weren't going to take any chances this time. "Are you okay?" Seungcheol asked him again. Jeonghan took a deep breath, he was fully prepared to open his mouth and tell Seungcheol that he was okay, and not worry about him and to focus on the mission. But just as he was about to speak, a waiter walked by them with a tray filled with food. He wasn't sure what was on it, but whatever it was the smell made his stomach turn and he knew that he'd lost control of it. He pushed himself away from the bar, and hastily made an exit from the room in search of a bathroom. He didn't know that Seungcheol was following behind him. Great, just what he needed, getting sick on a job. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Surprisingly it didn't take him that long to find a bathroom. He opened the door to the half-bath and pushed it shut behind him. But he didn't notice that Seungcheol had followed him into the room. But Jeonghan was too out of it to really care at the moment. He got down on his knees hard, and threw open the lid and threw up. There wasn't that much for him to throw up though. He really hasn't eaten anything since before they left Seoul, but his body was determined to rid himself of something that wasn't there anyway. Seungcheol was behind him the whole time, he held his hair back and rubbed his back in soothing circles. He felt awful, but he just couldn't stop gagging. Eventually, he was able to pull back from the toilet. Seungcheol reached around him to flush everything down the toilet. Jeonghan leaned back against the wall, and closed his eyes. He felt completely drained and he just wanted to go to sleep. 

A couple of minutes after he had closed his eyes, Jeonghan had felt Seungcheol place his hand on his forehead. "So, how's your stomach now?" Seungcheol asked. Jeonghan just groaned in response and brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his stomach. He still felt nauseous and he had a feeling that if he tried to move from the toilet he was going to throw up again. "You feel kind of warm to me, but I don't think that you have a fever though." Seungcheol said. "I have Mingyu holding things down, he's going to wait for Wonu-ah to come back." He told him. "And Kwannie's on his way to come and check you out." Jeonghan just groaned in response. "Don't worry, HaoHao, and Soonie are almost done, and I have Sollie and Channie going to the cars now, and everyone at home is preparing for us to come back." Seungcheol told him as he kissed him on the forehead. "Don't." Jeonghan told him. "I'm gross, and will probably get you sick." "Do you really think that after all of this time that I really care?" Seungcheol told him. Jeonghan slapped him for that. 

The two of them spent the next 15 to 20 minutes with Jeonghan hanging his head over the toilet dry-heaving while Seungcheol held his hair back and tried to comfort him. So far, it really wasn't going well. At least he was able to take out the younger's earpiece before he lost his lunch the first time around, None of the other members probably would have appreciated hearing everything in stereo. Luckily, he only threw up that one time, but even then it was mostly bile. He and Joshua had a kind of figure that Jeonghan hadn't been eating that much these past couple of days, and this only confirms their suspicions. He had been corresponding with Joshua through the comms, while they were waiting for Seungkwan to turn up. But after having to give the younger directions for the 4th time, he knew that he was lost. So, he just kneeled down behind Jeonghan and rubbed his back to make sure that he was okay. It had been a while since the last time Jeonghan had been this sick and Seungcheol was worried. The last time that he had gotten this bad, they had to take him to the hospital and that didn't go over too well with him. 

Eventually, Jeonghan's body decided that it was done torturing him for the moment and he slumped back against Seungcheol. He wasn't quite prepared for the added weight but was quickly able to accommodate him since Jeonghan didn't weigh that much(He'd have to talk to Joshua about that.) and got them in a comfortable position. He brushed back Jeonghan's bangs from his face, and kissed his temple. Jeonghan had his eyes closed and his breathing was slower than normal so he thought that he was asleep but he was still able humm at him. "It's going to be okay Angel." Seungcheol whispered into his lover's sweaty hair. "I promise." And he prayed to God that he could keep that promise. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The two of them sat on the nice carpeted floor of one of the bathrooms in the Jeon's vacation home in silence for the next couple of minutes. Jeonghan had gone quiet not that long after he had finished dry-heaving and he believed that he had fallen asleep. So he sat there and held the younger in his lap, and hummed an old lullaby that he used to sing to Chan when he was a baby. It always worked to calm him down and years later he found out that it did the same thing for Jeonghan too. He was going crazy out of his mind, but he had to be patient and remain calm so that he didn't freak Jeonghan out anymore. He just had to wait for Seungkwan to find them. And Seungkwan better hope that he finds him soon or he's going to get an ear full from Seungcheol.  


Not even 5 minutes later, Seungcheol heard a knock at the door. “Hyung?” Seungkwan asked from the other side of the door. Seungcheol sighed in relief when he heard his dongsaeng’s voice on the other side of the door. He moved over from where he was sitting next to Jeonghan and got up to unlock the door to let the younger man in. When he opened the door, Seungkwan immediate;y pushed his way in and moved Seungcheol out of the way and made a direct b-line towards Jeonghan. The elder was still propped up against the wall where Seungcheol had left him. His eyes were still closed and his head was tipped back. He seemed to be asleep, but Seungcheol could tell by the way that he was breathing that he was still awake. “Hyung?” Seungkwan questioned him softly. He crouched down in front of the elder and began feeling his forehead to see if he could find a temperature. Seungkwan didn’t have his instruments with him since they were too hard to sneak into the event. But it didn’t take a genius to figure out if someone had a possible temperature or not. 

“I don’t think he has a temperature.” Seungkwan said aloud. “Did he have one when you felt him earlier Seungcheol-Hyung?” He asked him. Seungcheol shook his head at him. “No, I don’t think so.” Seungcheol told him. “He felt a little warmer than normal to me, but other than that he wasn’t that hot.” Seungkwan nodded his head at him and turned his attention back to Jeonghan. “Jeonghan-Hyung?” Seungkwan questioned him softly. Jeonghan just groaned in response. “What hurts, can you tell me Hyung?” He asked him. Jeonghan just groaned and put his head on the younger’s shoulder. It took a few minutes before Jeonghan felt like he was able to talk without feeling like he was going to puke everywhere. “M’feel nauseous..” Jeonghan slurred. He cracked open his eyes and squinted at him. His eyes seemed a little blood shot to Seungkwan but other than that he seemed okay to him. “I know Hyung, we’ll get you out of here soon.” Seungkwan told him. “Is there anything else that hurts?” He asked him. Jeonghan shook his head. “Nothing hurts, but m’dizzy a bit.” He told him. “Okay, Hyung.” He told him. “Just hang on and we’re going to get you out of here.” Seungkwan told him. “Everything’s going to be alright.” And he hoped that he was telling him the truth.  


Jeonghan just hummed and closed his eyes again. Seungcheol came back over and sat down beside him, and pulled the younger into his lap. He held the younger close to his chest, and started rubbing his back in soothing circles. He made eye contact with Seungkwan and they shared a look with each other. ‘Is he going to be okay?’ Seungcheol mouthed to him. Seungkwan paused and bit his lip. He wasn’t really sure what was wrong with his Hyung at the moment. More likely than not he was going to be fine. But with the luck that they had been having these past months, he wasn’t going to take a chance with it. ‘Probably, but we’ll know more when we get him back to the house.’ Seungkwan mouthed back to him. And he just hoped and prayed that he was right. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

“Hyung?” Chan’s voice rang through the comm link. And in the quiet bathroom it all startled them, except Jeonghan since he took his ear piece out. “Yeah Channie?” Seungcheol asked. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing’s wrong Hyung, I’m just checking in to tell you that me, and Hansol-Hyung are in the car, and we’re just waiting on you.” He told him. “Alright Chan, that’s what we were waiting on.” Seungcheol told him. “We’ll be there in a couple of minutes okay?” “Yeah, that’s fine Hyung, just bring them out when you’re ready.” Chan told him. “What about the rest of them?” Seungcheol asked. “Minghao-Hyung, and Soonyoung-Hyung are waiting in the other car waiting on Mingyu-Hyung and Wonwoo-Hyung.” Chan told him. “Okay that’s good.” Seungcheol said. “Have you heard anything from Wonwoo-ah?” His older brother asked him. “No, we haven’t, how about you?” Chan asked him. “No, not a word.”  


When Chan and Seungcheol were done with their conversation he turned his attention back to Jeonghan. The younger was quiet, but Seungcheol could still tell that he was awake. He then looked to Sseungkwan, and their silent conversation consisted of rather Jeonghan was able to be moved to the car so that they could all get the Hell out of Dodge as soon as possible. Seungkwan looked a little bit uncertain but, they also didn’t have that much of a choice at the moment, so he relented and gave the go ahead for them to head out. “Hey, Angel.” Seungcheol whispered into Jeonghan’s ear. Jeonghan mumbled in response. “We gotta go before Wonwoo gets out and we get caught.” Seungcheol told him. “Are you okay with moving?” He asked him. It took a few moments, but eventually Jeonghan nodded his head ‘yes’ and they started the process of trying to get the three of them out. They made it out fairly easy, Jeonghan only got dizzy once, and they were able to get them all out without Jeonghan getting sick. Which was a miracle in itself. 

Once they got out of the house, it was a straight shot towards the car. Earlier in the evening they had taken their cars and had parked them far away from the house so that it would be less likely to get detected. And Chan and Hansol had gone and pulled it around so that they could get in and leave fast. They slotted Jeonghan in the front seat and him and Seungkwan had piled into the back with Hansol and they were off. Minghao and Soonyoung were staying behind to wait on Mingyu and Wonwoo and were going to be along soon. On the way home Jeonghan was quiet. At one point Seungcheol was pretty sure that he had fallen asleep, and made eye contact with Chan in the rearview mirror to confirm it. Seungkwan went between checking on Jeonghan and talking quietly with Hansol. The two of them couldn’t be more different from each other, but yet they were some of the closest with each other out of all of their members. It just amazed Seungcheol to no end but he wasn’t going to complain since they got along so well and he didn’t have to break up any fights( Cough* Minghao and Mingyu* Cough). Chan drove them home and even following the speed limit and taking the backways to Mingyu’s family’s home it seemed like no time at all before they got there. 

Chan pulled into the long driveway, and put the car in park. Hansol ran out and into the house to tell the others that they were there. Which left Chan, Seungcheol and Seungkwan to get Jeonghan out of the car. When they opened the passenger side door, the second eldest of the group was dead asleep. None of them had the heart to wake him up, it was the most that any of them had seen him sleep in weeks. Jeonghan was doing everything in his power to be strong and be there for all of the members during these trying times, but they could still see how difficult of a time he was having with all of this too. And they knew that he wasn’t sleeping all that well since his night terrors had started to come back. But none of them said anything since Seungcheol and Joshua had everything under control for the moment, so they just kept an eye out for them. Seungcheol ended up making the executive decision to just pick him up and carry him inside the house. So Seungkwan unbuckled him and closed the car door behind them, while Chan locked the car up and off they went. Just as they were going up the front stairs Joshua and Seokmin came running out the front door. And it was easy to see the look of panic on their faces when they saw Seungcheol carrying Jeonghan. But Seungcheol just shook his head, and mouthed ‘He’s just asleep.’ And that instantly calmed both of them down.  


Seungcheol carried him in the house and up the stairs into the guest room that they were staying in. And he had Joshua hot on his heels the whole entire time. Both of them were worried about Jeonghan and they were trying not to let it show too much to the other kids. Joshua had told the rest of the kids that were there to go to the office where Jihoon and Jun were and wait there until the others got back. And that just left the three of them alone with each other. When they entered the bedroom Joshua pulled back the covers, and Seungcheol laid Jeonghan down on the bed, and they both pulled the covers up over top of him. Seungcheol went into the bathroom to clean up a bit while Joshua was fluttering around Jeonghan making sure that he was alright. When Seungcheol came back into the room about 5 minutes later, Joshua was tucked up against Jeonghan and he had the elder’s head laying on his chest. It was a cute sight in his opinion. 

“Is he still asleep?” Seungcheol whispered as he came back into the room. Joshua turned his head at the sound of his voice and nodded his head. “Yeah, he’s still asleep.” Joshua told him. Seungcheol nodded his head and crawled in bed beside of Jeonghan. He reached over and felt his forehead again, just to be sure. “He doesn’t have a fever.” Joshua said. “I checked it when you were getting changed, his temperature’s normal.” He told him. Seungcheol nodded his head, and brushed Jeonghan’s bangs out of his face. “Is he going to be okay?” Seungcheol asked him. He already asked Seungkwan this question earlier but he knew that the younger wouldn’t tell him the whole truth if he thought that it would upset him. He knew that Joshua would tell him the truth and he trusted him to tell the whole truth. “Yeah, he’s going to be okay.” Joshua said as he was playing with Jeonghan’s hair. “He probably has a bug or something.” He told him. “Or he was so worried about this mission that he made himself sick.” Joshua said. “Either one are very valid options.” Seungcheol nodded his head, and kissed Jeonghan on the temple. He smiled as he was met with the younger’s relaxed face. He then leaned over and kissed Joshua on the lips. He has felt a whole lot calmer now that he was home and he had pretty much everyone that he cared about with him. They just needed the last 4 of them to get here already.  


\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Meanwhile back in Seoul…... 

“Alright, is everyone in position?” RM asked over the comm links. “We’re in place Hyung.” Jungkook said. “Ready whenever you are RM-Hyung.” Soobin said. “Good.” Namjoon said. “Suga-Hyung, Beomgyu, and I are in the van, tell us when you get in so we can guide you through it.” He told them. He got more sounds of confirmation after that. Tonight was the night. While SEVENTEEN was off in Busan infiltrating the Jeon’s charity event, Bangtan and TXT were set to break into the Jeon’s main estate. Luckily, Seungcheol had the Jeon’s son on his team and Wonwoo was able to give them detailed blueprints and other information about the house and all of the secrets that it holds. It didn’t take nearly as long as Namjoon thought that it would for Yoongi and Beomgyu to hack in, and Hoseok and Yeonjun to scope out the place. And him and Soobin were able to orchestrate a plan for the job pretty quickly. 

Namjoon, Yoongi, Beomgyu and Jin were waiting in a van parked across the street. They were across from the house but were far enough away to keep them out of sight of the security cameras. And Yoongi and Beomgyu were able to hack in to take care of the rest of that problem. Jin was sitting in the front of the driver’s seat, ready to drive away at a moment’s notice. Out of all of them the only ones who couldn’t drive(Legally Taehyun-ah!, Legally!) were Namjoon and the kids. Even though Jin doesn’t look like it, he’s actually a pretty good led-foot. It kind of scares Namjoon sometimes how fast that man can go. Beomgyu was running everything from a tech standpoint. The youngest hacker in the group was finally deemed able to be out in the field again, but both his older brother and cousin wouldn't let him get any farther than the van during this mission. Yoongi was also running things behind the scenes but for a different reason. Besides the fact that he almost never went in on a job he was also pregnant. He’s still in the first trimester, and was just beginning to show a little bit.(Hoseok was beyond ecstatic.) And they weren’t taking any chances, Namjoon had tried to get the elder to stay put but he was stubborn and said that he wasn’t going to stay home and worry himself out of his mind while they’re out in the field. He gave up arguing and was glad that Hoseok was going into the house tonight. And Namjoon and Soobin had flipped a coin to see who was going in and who was going to stay behind and monitor the mission. Namjoon ended up monitoring and Soobin went in. It was going to be a very long night.  


Which left Hoseok, Jimin, Taehyung, Jeongguk, Yeonjun, Soobin, Taehyun, and HunneingKai to go in. He left Hoseok and Soobin in charge, and their mission was to go in and search the place from top to bottom, trying to find any dirt on the Jeons that they could. Once they do that, it’s back to their headquarters where’ they’ll go over it and then send it off to Seungcheol and the rest of SEVENTEEN hoping that they’ll be able to form some sort of joint plant to go after these bastards and stop them once and for all. “We’re in Hyung.” Soobin said over the comm. “Junnie-Hyung, Hyunnie, and NingNing, and I came in through the back door.” He reported. “So far it’s just us, but we’ll be on the lookout.” Namjoon hummed in conformation. “Good job Binnie, keep me posted.” Namjoon said. “J-hope, you guys in yet?” He asked him. “We’re working on it RM, I swear that this roof is booby-trapped.” Hoseok said. “You’d think for a bunch of rich people that they would think to take better care of their roof, V almost fell off twice, the only reason he’s still here is that Kookie was able to catch him in time.” “Hope-ah, less talking and more breaking and entering.” Yoongi butted in. “Sorry Suga-Hyung.” Hoseok said. “How are things on your guy’s end?” And they all knew that he wasn’t talking about the mission. “We’re fine.” Yoongi butted in again as he brought a hand to his stomach and started rubbing it. Namjoon let a little smile grace his face as he watched his friends interact. Again, it was going to be a very long night. 

It didn’t take that much longer to get everyone else in through the ventilation shaft on the roof. And Namjoon had told Hoseok and them to do the exact same things in the upper levels as he told the kids to do on the lower levels. Find as much dirt as you can and get out. And this was something that one would think that he would have to tell the younger members, but no, he had to tell the supposed adults of the team tonight. “Don’t break anything, and leave no trace.” Namjoon told them once he got the confirmation that they were all in. “Don’t worry Hyung we won’t.” V told him. And that didn’t help ease his worries at all. “Somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen.” He said to Suga, and Beongyu when the other had hung up on him. “You’re right Joon-ah, something’s going to go wrong, it always does when you leave Seok-ah in charge.” Yoongi said. “But don’t you love Hobi-Hyung, after all he’s the father of your unborn child?” Beomgyu asked him innocently. Yoongi just sighed and shook his head. He loved Beomgyu, he really did, but the kid was too pure and sweet and innocent sometimes. Tonight was going to be a very long night. 

As it turns out, Yoonig was right. Something bad did happen, but nothing catastrophic like everyone else thought would happen. The whole mission had been pretty quiet for the most part. They had their periodic check-ins from time to time, but other than that nothing really big happened. So far they haven’t been able to find a whole lot of dirt that they were hoping to find. Though Jimin had found the home computer and was able to make copies and download all of the copied files into their systems for them to go over when they got back. And V had found an address book and some financial logs in the master bedroom. He took pictures and sent them to Beomgyu to look at. And the kids didn’t have a whole lot of luck finding anything. Though Taehyun did stumble upon some questionable bottles of something in the kitchen. And when he took the lids off to smell them he thought that they were poisons. And he found a huge stash of money hidden in a false bottom of a cereal box. Soobin told him just to leave it but take a picture of the cereal numbers. Though everything was going pretty well, almost too well if you asked Namjoon for his opinion on the matter. Just as everyone was getting out, they heard a yell coming from the comms. All of them just stopped what they were doing and paused to listen for what exactly happened. Then Jimin’s voice came on the line.  


“Don’t worry Hyung.” Jimin said. “V-ah just fell off the roof.” And how could they not worry about that. “WHAT?!” Jin yelled over the comm, and all of the members in the van got it in stereo since Jin was just in the driver’s seat and there wasn’t a whole lot separating the two pieces of the van. “He fell off the roof.” Jimin told him again. “Don’t worry, it was the very bottom of the one that went over that backyard patio thing that they have going, it wasn’t that big of a drop.” He told them. “And Hobi-Hyung and Kookie are already down there checking on him.” He said. And Namjoon let out a breath that he didn’t know that he had been holding. “Did anyone hear you?” He asked him. “I don’t think so, V didn’t scream that loud in general, no one seems to notice anything.” Jimin told him. “Though in this neighbor it wouldn’t surprise me if you shot someone in the middle of the street and no one would do anything about it.” Namjoon just shook his head at the younger. He turned his attention to look at both Yoongi and Beomgyu. The younger seemed to be worried, he and Taehyung were very close with one another, but other than that he was okay. And Yoongi seemed to be calmer knowing that Taehyung was more likely than not okay. But he was rubbing his stomach in small little circles. It was hard for them to figure out who it was that had screamed, and he didn’t blame the elder for one second thinking that it could possibly be Hoseok. “V’s okay.” Hoseok’s voice came on through the comm. “He’s just banged up and bruised, I don’t think there’s anything else wrong with him but I’ll check more thoroughly when we get home.” He told them. Namjoon hummed in response. “Good, then everyone get out and come back to the van, we’re going home.” And hopefully it would all be in one piece. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Minghao was worried. He’d never admit it, he wasn’t Soonyoung, who was currently in the passenger seat next to him trying and failing to stop trying to bite his nails off. It didn’t take a genius to see that he was worried about Wonwoo. Those two have always had a different relationship, at least to Minghao they did. Wonwoo and Soonyoung seemed really close with each other and yet not at the same time. On more than one occasion, Minghao had thought that Jihoon and Soonyoung were going out or they were going to end up together eventually. But no, it’s Wonwoo, it’s always been Wonwoo. Which just boggles his mind sort of, Wonwoo, like Jihoon is someone that’s hard to get close to. He’s very calm and quiet, he’s a thinker, not a fighter. He takes his time going over what he wants to say to win an argument. Unlike Soonyoung, who’s one of the most brash, hotheaded, and unpredictable. Now, don’t get him wrong, Soonyoung is good at what he does, and he’s good at planning things out too, it’s just that he does have the tendency to kind of fly off the handle. So he didn’t really didn’t get what they saw in each other. But, the same could be said for him when it comes to Mingyu. 

“Have you heard anything?” Soonyoung asked him. And hearing his voice brought Minghao out of his head and back to reality. The younger of the two thieves just shook his head at him. He hadn’t heard anything either, he was just as in the dark as the elder was and he told him just as much. “No Hyung, I haven’t heard anything.” Minghao told him. “I know just as much as you do if not less.” Soonyoung just sighed and slumped back into his seat and stared out the window. And Minghao let out his frustrations by running his fingers through his hair, messing up his normal neat and put together style. Minghao let out a huff of air that sent his bangs flying out of his face after they had fallen there when he messed his hair up. He really needed a haircut, but he probably wouldn’t with all that was going on at the moment. He reached into the cup holder and pulled his phone to check out his messages. He was really hoping that at least Mingyu would have texted him to tell him if everything was going alright. But all that he had were messages from Chan, and Seungcheol saying that they got back to the house okay and that they were checking on Jeonghan and he seemed to be doing fine. He sighed and sent back a short reply, and dropped his phone back down. He looked over again at Soonyoung and saw him doing the same thing. But by the look of things he wasn’t having that much luck with Wonwoo either. Minghao wouldn’t admit it but he was very worried about him.  


“Do you think something’s wrong?” Minghao asked after a couple of minutes. He hadn’t meant to say anything but it just came flying out of his mouth. Soonyoung had looked up from where his face was buried in his phone. And he had this look on his face that Minghao really couldn’t read that well. The elder of the two took his time on trying to come up with an answer and figure out a way to explain things to him. And that worried Minghao a little bit. Normally in any other circumstance Soonyoung would just say whatever came to his mind and that would be the end of it. That’s just how he is, and everyone has just learned to deal with it. But, this, this it new, this is very new, and it was kind of scaring him a bit, if Minghao was being honest with himself. And for the first time in a long time he was. And that scared him a lot. 

Minghao ended up being thrown off with what Soonyoung said next. “You really care about Mingyu don’t you?” He asked him. And that was blunt enough to shock even Minghao himself. He was able to recover quickly though and came back to his senses. “What are you talking about?” Minghao asked him, trying to play dumb and hoping that it would be bought. “Of course I care about Mingyu, I care about Wonwoo too, why wouldn’t I?” “Well, I don’t know, I figured that it must be rough waiting here in the care doing nothing when your boyfriend’s in the house doing who knows what.” Soonyoung said. "He's not my boyfriend." Minghao told him. He then went on to say, “Like your one to talk.” Minghao retorted back. “Everyone can see the way that you make googly eyes at Wonwoo.” Soonyoung blushed a little bit but for the most part his resolve didn’t change one bit. “Minghao.” He said instead. And it was so soft, and serious at the same time that it made something in his chest turn. “I do.” Minghao finally said. “I.. I care about Mingyu, very.. Much.” He said. “So what of it?” He asked Soonyoung in a clipped tone. “Nothing, nothing.” The older replied. “Just that I feel the same way about Wonwoo.” He told him. And both of them knew that the way that they were acting was more than just friends, or family members being concerned about one another. And that scared the both of them more than they could even imagine before, until now that is. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Soonyoung wasn’t going to admit it because he knew that Jihoon and the rest of the members would tease him for it, but he was about 2 seconds away from jumping up and joy and doing cartwheels down the road when he finally saw Mingyu and Wonwoo walking up to the car. The two of them seemed to be trying to get to them as fast as they could while simultaneously trying to make themselves look not suspicious. He turned and looked at Minghao and the younger was already in the process of unlocking the car. And he couldn’t miss the smile that was on his face when seeing Mingyu there. As soon as they got close Minghao turned the engine over and the other two flung themselves into the car. “Drive.” Mingyu said, as he closed the door behind them. And Minghao didn’t hesitate one bit as he floored the gas and sped off into the night. 

“Do you think that you guys were followed?” Soonyoung asked as they sped down the road. He glanced at them as Minghao had pulled out and they seemed fine to him. So he went onto the other important questions. “Don’t think so, but I wouldn’t put it past my mother to try and send someone after us.” Wonwoo said from the back seat and it was the first thing that he had said since he’s gotten in the car. Soonyoung hummed and nodded his head as he went back to his phone. He was probably texting Seungcheol or Jihoon and updating them on their progress. “Don’t forget, go the long way, take detours, and stop at the gas station to fill up near the house.” Soonyoung said to Minghao. The younger nodded and went down a turn to take them on the scenic route to Mingyu’s family’s house. “Hoonie texted me after Hyung got home with the kids and Hyung.” Soonyoung said. “Jeonghan-Hyung’s asleep now and he seems to be doing fine, but Seungcheol-Hyung has everyone packing and loading up the cars.” Soonyoung told them. “Chan, and Hansol already went out to go and fill up the other two cars while everyone else was packing.” Soonyoung said. “So I take it that we’re leaving back home then as soon as we get back to the house?” Mingy asked him. “Probably.” Soonyoung said as he went back to his phone. 

The 4 of them spent the next 10 minutes or so driving in complete silence. Minghao was driving and trying his best to make it hard to follow them if they were being tailed. Soonyoung was on his phone communicating with Jihoon and trying to organize things for when they get back. Mingyu was in the back and he was staring out the mirror every couple of minutes making sure that they weren’t being followed. And Wonwoo just seemed to be lost in thought. He was quiet and he just seemed to be in another world other than the one that they were living in. Soonyoung glanced up from his phone every couple of minutes. He knew that something was wrong with the elder, but he knew better not to push or else Wonwoo would just shut him out too and that wasn’t something that Soonyoung wanted at all. So he kept his mouth shut and set a reminder to question him about all of it later. Right now they just all needed to focus on getting the Hell out of here and remaining in one piece. Though he knew that his friend(crush)’s sour mood had everything to do with his mother. He knew from Jihoon that Wonwoo had texted him that he got the information that they needed from his mother. But, even Jihoon was able to tell that there was something going on with him after he met with his mother. But, they had more important things to worry about at the moment. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Pulling into the driveway of the Kim Family Vacation Home, the quartet was met with pretty much everyone scrambling around the driveway. Soonyoung had texted them all when they hit the gas station and told them that they would be about another 15 minutes or so, and to be ready to leave when they pulled in. And ready they were. Both of the cars seemed to be packed to the hilt, and there were only a couple of suitcases left to be loaded in the car that they were in. As they came to a stop in the large circular driveway, Seungcheol jogged up to the passenger window. Soonyoung rolled it down so that the elder could talk to them clearly. “Hey Hyung wasn’t up?” He asked. “Nothing much.” He told him. “We have the cars mostly packed,, we just need to put the last of the luggage in your car HaoHao.” Seungcheol told him. The younger nodded his head in confirmation and popped the trunk of the car. Seungcheol motioned with his hand for things to start being loaded as soon as possible and Hansol and Seokmin started loading things in the back. “Hey Gyu,” Seungcheol asked him. “Yes Hyung?” “Do you mind driving home? I wouldn’t normally ask, but with Hannie sick I want Channie to drive with me in case of an emergency and we have to switch and you’re the only other one with a license.” He said. The younger nodded in agreement. “Sure Hyung, just tell me which car to take.” Alright.” Seungcheol said. He looked at Wonwoo in question and the hacker just stared at him. He already knew that they had what they needed but he just wanted to check on the younger. “I’m fine Hyung.” He told him 

Seungcheol paused for a moment, and they could all tell that he was debating in his head on whether he should believe the younger or not. But eventually he just gave in and sighed to himself. “Alright.” Seungcheol said. “I believe you.” The for now went unsaid, but everyone could tell that it was implied. “But don’t hesitate to give a yell if you need something.” Wonwoo just nodded his head. “Alright,” He said. “Well, I’ll leave you guys to it then, we’re almost done.” He said. “Seungkwan, and Jun swept all of the rooms that we’ve been in and the ones we didn’t just to make sure that nothing was left behind.” He told them. “Everything is packed now, but I can’t tell you who’s stuff went in which car though.” Seungcheol told them. “So that’s just something that we’ll have to work on when we get back home.” He told them. “But for now, be prepared to get a car full and we’ll head out in about 20 minutes or so.” Seungcheol said. “So if anyone has to use the bathroom do it now, because we’ve got a long car ride ahead of us.” All of them raced out of the car after that.  


It didn’t take that much longer for all of them to use the bathroom and pile back into the car. After all of them were in the cars, Mingyu and Seungcheol did one last full sweep and then left. Mingyu locked the door behind him and armed the security system and sent word for the cleaning staff to come in the next day and erase all trace of them being there. He then went and got in the driver’s seat of the second car parked in the middle of the driveway and they were off. In the first car, it had the most. They had Seungcheol in the driver’s seat, Seokmin right next to him riding shotgun and being the navigator. In the back seat, there was Joshua and Chan with Jeonghan in the middle of them. He was knocked out cold at the moment. But they had Chan with them in case something were to go wrong. Then all they had to do was have Chan and Seungcheol switch places and they could just keep going. 

In the second car, there was Mingyu in the driver’s seat, Jun next to him in the passenger seat next to him, but it didn’t take long before the elder had fallen asleep on him, which wasn’t that big of a problem for Mingyu. In the back seat there was Seungkwan and Hansol. And for the first the most part the two of them weren’t fighting about something trivial. Other than that, they had a pretty quiet car ride. In the third car, there was Minghao in the driver’s seat, and Soonyoung was still in the passenger seat next to him. Wonwoo and Jihoon were both crammed into the back and none of them had said anything the whole time that they had been in the car. Wonwoo was still staring off into space, and they were starting to worry about him being so quiet. And Jihoon wasn’t even in the car 10 minutes before he was out cold. But that just didn’t seem to phase Minghao at all as he drove down the highway in the dark of the night. All three of them were following each other home and were trying to stay as close as they could so that it would be hard for them to be split up should anyone bother to try it with them. And Soonyoung just sat in the front and stared out the window and watched the Earth pass them by. He was worried, who wouldn’t be in their situation, but he was praying, which was something that he hasn’t done in awhile, and hoped that it all would work out.  


\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Back in Seoul…. 

All was quiet at the apartment that SEVENTEEN used as their headquarters and their home. It was a nice enough neighborhood, though it wasn’t the best there was in the country. But it had done them all well for the past couple of years. They had made many memories here over the years, some bad, and some good but regardless they all brought them closer together as a family. But that was all about to change now. And none of them were going to like how this change was going to go down. 

From the outside of the apartment building, if one paid enough attention, then they would see a figure in black scaling the walls of the building. They stopped on the 13th floor where their apartment was located. The figure was able to pop the lock on the window and opened it up enough that they were able to crawl in through the opening. The figure turned around and shut it back behind him. They walked straight through the living room and headed for the kitchen. They pulled something out of their pocket and placed it on the tiny kitchen table that was pushed up against the wall, and nestled it in the fruit bowl on the table. After that they just turned around and walked out of the room. Instead of going back out the way that they came, they did one better. They unlocked the front door and left, but not without leaving it unlocked and cracked open just a little bit. They were given directions to just leave the note, not touch anything and just walk out the front door. Their boss wanted to leave a message that they know where they live now, and it was their turn to make their next move. The figure in black walked down the back stairs and went out the side entrance into the alleyway next to the apartment, after that, they just up and vanished into the night, never to be seen again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger!!! So, what did you think? Any guesses on what's up with Jeonghan and Wonwoo?   
> -N.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The drive home, with a twist at the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, it took longer to get through the third part of my Voltron fic than I thought. But I was able to finish it in time to be able to post on this since it's one year anniversary was coming up. I can't believe that it's been a year since I started this thing on a whim, and look how far we've gotten. Thank you to everyone who has read this and stuck with me through the crazy update schedule. After this chapter I'm going to finish all of the one shots that I have left to write, then come back to do one more chapter of this, then go do the last part of my Voltron Series, then come back and finish this hopefully. I will tell you this we are in the home stretch here people, and this fic is starting to wrap up here. I don't know how many more chapters it's going to be in total, but we're getting close. Anyway thank you all again. Have a nice day and stay safe out there!   
> -N.

Chapter 21

Previously on SEVENTEEN ...

_Back in Seoul...._

_All was quiet at the apartment that SEVENTEEN used as their headquarters and their home. It was a nice enough neighborhood, though it wasn't the best there was in the country. But it had done them all well for the past couple of years. They had made many memories here over the years, some bad, and some good but regardless they all brought them closer together as a family. But that was all about to change now. And none of them were going to like how this change was going to go down._

_From the outside of the apartment building, if one paid enough attention, then they would see a figure in black scaling the walls of the building. They stopped on the 13th floor where their apartment was located. The figure was able to pop the lock on the window and opened it up enough that they were able to crawl in through the opening. The figure turned around and shut it back behind him. They walked straight through the living room and headed for the kitchen. They pulled something out of their pocket and placed it on the tiny kitchen table that was pushed up against the wall, and nestled it in the fruit bowl on the table. After that they just turned around and walked out of the room. Instead of going back out the way that they came, they did one better. They unlocked the front door and left, but not without leaving it unlocked and cracked open just a little bit. They were given directions to just leave the note, not touch anything and just walk out the front door. Their boss wanted to leave a message that they know where they live now, and it was their turn to make their next move. The figure in black walked down the back stairs and went out the side entrance into the alleyway next to the apartment, after that, they just up and vanished into the night, never to be seen again._

********************* 

It was a long drive back to Seoul from the party. All 13 of them were crammed into 3 tiny little cars. Though it probably would be better if some of their members weren't giants and they didn't bring so much stuff with them. But all in all Seungcheol thinks that they did a pretty good job of throwing everything back into a car and getting the Hell out of Dodge in less than 2 hours. He knew that it was a mess, but he was more worried about Wonwoo's mother sending someone after them trying to get information or do harm to them to really care at the time. He was just happy to have everyone accounted for and in cars on the way back to their little apartment in Seoul. It had been a very long and trying evening for the whole team, and he knew that he needed to get this taken care of now. This had to be, this was going to be over regardless of what Seungcheol has to do to make it that way. His family came first for him and he had to make sure that they were going to be okay. Once everything was packed in the cars and everyone piled in Seungcheol had gone around to each car and gave one last set of instructions before they headed out. Minghao and Mingyu were supposed to drive for as long as they could in one stretch. He didn't want to stop too many times in fear of being tracked or caught. So he had set Chan up in the front passenger seat with him and he would be conversing with everyone so that they could plan a group stop together. And if for some reason that they need to stop they were to tell the group chat and tell where they were going. They would all figure out some way to turn around and meet up. He didn't want them to get separated and he knew that he was acting a little bit neurotic but at this point he didn't really care, he just wanted everyone to be safe. Once that was gone he turned around, got in the driver's seat of the first car and headed off back to Seoul. This was going to be a very, very long ride home. 

They had been driving down the road for about 15 minutes or so when Seungcheol looked back into the rearview mirror to check on everyone. Chan was sitting next to him in the sitting, he was sitting hunched over looking at his phone. He couldn't tell if he was texting someone in one of the other cars or if he was playing a game or something, but whatever it was it had his little brother's full attention. In the backseat sat his two lovers. Jeonghan was out cold still, when they were packing everyone into the car earlier it had taken Joshua 15 minutes of pleading, bribing and threats to get the other up. And even though he was able to get him in the car in relatively one piece, he didn't seem to be with the world at all. But once Joshua had placed them both in the back seat and had a blanket thrown over them he was out like a light. Seungcheol couldn't help but to smile at the sight of Jeonghan cuddled up to Joshua like some sort of koala, it was cute. And Joshua was still awake, though with the way that he was fitting to keep his eyes opened, Seungcheol wouldn't be surprised if he ended up falling asleep himself any moment. Once his car was done with, he looked farther back and he could see the car behind him. He's pretty sure that it was the one that Mingyu was driving but he couldn't be for certain. He leaned over and nudged Chan's arm. "Hey Channie, can you text the others to make sure that they're still behind us?" He asked him. "Please." Chan just nodded his head and got to work on contacting the others. While he was doing that Seungcheol turned his eyes back to the road, with it being so late at night there was practically no one on the road, which was both good and bad at the same time. Good because they didn't have to worry about a lot of witnesses in case something went down, but bad because if something did go down then they couldn't get to any help quickly. God he wished they were home already. 

While Seungcheol was driving, Chan got busy texting everyone. Or well, he texted Vernon and Hoshi since out of everyone in the cars, those two would still be awake and would answer him in a timely manner.

_Dinoy:_ Hey, Cheol-Hyung said to check in on you guys to make sure that you're still alive and are following our car. So are you?

**Veronnie:** Yeah we're right behind you. Mingyu-Hyung is looking right at the back of Cheol-Hyung's head. And Seomin-Hyung's freaking out about losing you guys, so don't worry we're right behind you. How's Jeonghan-Hyung? Seokmin-Hyung's worried about him.

_TigerKing:_ Hey Channie, we're right behind you guys, though I would tell your brother to go faster, HaoHao has that look on his face that he has when he's getting ready to just plow through the traffic in front of him and he doesn't really care what happened. He looks like an angry little frog. And what Verno said too, how's Hyung?

Chan looked back behind him and glanced at the two in the backseat. From what he can tell, Jeonghan was still out cold and was asleep against Joshua's shoulder. It looked kind of cute, but he was never going to say any of that out loud though. 

"I just texted Vernon-Hyung and Hosi-Hyung, they're still behind you." Chan said. "Vernon-Hyung said that almost everyone in the car is asleep, and Hoshi-Hyung said that you and Mingyu-Hyung need to drive faster." He told him. "Minghao-Hyung has that look on his face whenever he's getting ready to gun it and he doesn't care who's in the way." Seungcheol could only fondly roll his eyes at him. "Well text Hoshi back and tell him to tell Hao to chill, we'll get home eventually." Seungcheol said. "I don't want to get pulled over for speeding and reckless endangerment." God, he couldn't get home fast enough.

_Dinoy:_ I told Hyung, he said to tell Minghao-Hyung to chill. He doesn't want to get pulled over, a ticket, or in an accident on the way home. We'll get there eventually. And Jeonghan-Hyung seems fine. He's still knocked out cold against Joshua-Hyung, and hasn't woken up since we left. Cheol-Hyung is hoping that he can sleep the whole way home.

**Veronnie:** That's good, I hope Hyung is okay.

_TigerKing:_ Don't worry about it kids, Hyung will be fine, he's tough and he's been through worse. Everything is going to be okay you hear me.

And Chan really hoped that Soonyoung was right about that. He stole one more glance in the rearview mirror to get a look at his Hyungs. He couldn't help but to be worried though. Something wasn't right about this, but he was too afraid to say anything. He just wanted his Hyungs to be okay and for everything to go back to normal. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Right behind Seungcheol in the second car was Mingyu, Seokmin, Vernon and Seungkwan. While it was sort of an unusual combination, it wasn't that unheard of. All four of them got along swimmingly as friends and Seungcheol could trust them to be off together and not worry about them trying to kill each other. And for that he was very grateful that they were able to ride home together. Especially where they were leaving a very tense atmosphere and none of them were known for handling those well. What can they say, they were all bleeding hearts, and didn't like confrontation, or disagreements. Though that didn't completely stop some of the atmosphere from leaking into the car with them. 

Vernon and Seungkwan who were sitting in the back seat with one another, shared a knowing look. The two of them had figured out quite early on in this little endeavor to Busan that things were more tense in certain aspects of their group that the others weren't letting on. Though neither one of them blamed them though, everyone here was tense. But the main part of their group that they were worried about now was Mingyu and Minghao. Ever since things started to get serious here, the two of them have been acting off, or well Minghao was acting off-while poor Mingyu looked like a kick puppy. Even now, Seokmin was in the front passenger seat trying, and failing to get Mingyu to talk to him. The eldest 97-liner could tell that something was off here, and he had been trying his best for months to get the two of them to talk or something, but alas nothing has gone the poor man's way.  


While the two of them were in the front talking quietly amongst each other as Mingyu drove, Vernon, and Seungkwan were just looking at each other and pulled out their phones and started their own silent texting conversations. 

**Nonnie:** **You sense what's happening here too right? It's not just me?**

******_Kwannie:_ ** **No, I sense it too, you're not going crazy. I don't know anymore than you do though.**

**Nonnie:** **We both know that this has something to do with Minghao-Hyung though right?**

******_Kwannie:_ ** **Yes, that much is obvious you twit, but I do know that the two of them are almost incapable of doing something about this on their own.**

And while he did not like being called a twit, he still couldn't help the fact that his stomach fluttered a little bit. For some reason no matter what happened Seungkwan just always had some sort of pull over his emotions that he couldn't quite explain. He was able to make his mood do an 180 at the drop of a hat, and while he didn't necessarily like that at first, it didn't really bother him now. If he was being honest here he actually quite enjoyed it.

**Nonnie:** **I wouldn't go that far though, you know that the two of them are actually pretty intelligent right? Even though they didn't go to college like you, Seomin-Hyung, and Joshua-Hyung?**

******_Kwannie:_ ** **I know this Hansol, but I'm just saying that's brain intelligence, not emotional intelligence. Yes, Minghao-Hyung is very smart, and knows a lot of things that makes me kind of scared of him, but he never spent time around people in the social way that we have because he was trapped in assassin school with Jun-Hyung, though Jun-Hyung was able to figure it all out though. Besides the fact that Minghao-Hyung has literally no social skills, Mingyu-Hyung is too nice. You and I, along with everyone else but Minghao-Hyung and Mingyu-Hyung themselves know that Mingyu-Hyung followed Minghao-Hyung around like a little lost puppy when he first came around. It was very pitiful to see, and now you can just taste the sexual tension in the room whenever they're together, it can just turn you on thinking about it!**

Seungkwan will admit that he probably shouldn't have said that last part, but he couldn't help himself if he had gotten on a roll. He didn't know what it was but Hansol just always brought out this more brash, crazier side to him. Not that he didn't like it per sey, it's just that it really confused him, and he didn't always know how to respond to it.

**Nonnie:** **While you are right, I do not want to think about my friends having sex, nor do I want to know about what does and does not turn them on or not.**

******_Kwannie:_ ** **Oh you no jam. Quit being a stick in the mud and just humor me for a moment will you?**

Again, Hansol couldn't help the way that his stomach did a little jump at that last comment. He loved it when Seungkwan got sassy, it really showed his personality in his opinion. He showed how passionate he was, and how willing he was to do whatever it took to keep his friends safe and help them out when needed. Seungkwan was one of the most kindest, honest, passionate, strong-willed, loving, caring, smartest, and beautiful people that he has ever met in his life. He loved Seungkwan... Oh my.. Holy Shit! He loved Seungkwan!! 

Lucky for Vernon, before he could get too lost in his own head, he heard his phone go off. And for a split second his heart stopped when he thought that it was Seungkwan texting him again. He let out a sigh of relief when he looked and saw that it was only Chan texting him and Soonyoung. 

_Dinoy:_ Hey, Cheol-Hyung said to check in on you guys to make sure that you're still alive and are following our car. So are you?

**Veronnie:** Yeah we're right behind you. Mingyu-Hyung is looking right at the back of Cheol-Hyung's head. And Seomin-Hyung's freaking out about losing you guys, so don't worry we're right behind you. How's Jeoghan-Hyung? Seokmin-Hyung's worried about him.

_TigerKing:_ Hey Channie, we're right behind you guys, though I would tell your brother to go faster, HaoHao has that look on his face that he has when he's getting ready to just plow through the traffic in front of him and he doesn't really care what happened. He looks like an angry little frog. And what Verno said too, how's Hyung?

_Dinoy:_ I told Hyung, he said to tell Minghao-Hyung to chill. He doesn't want to get pulled over, a ticket, or in an accident on the way home. We'll get there eventually. And Jeonghan-Hyung seems fine. He's still knocked out cold against Joshua-Hyung, and hasn't woken up since we left. Cheol-Hyung is hoping that he can sleep the whole way home.

**Veronnie:** That's good, I hope Hyung is okay.

_TigerKing:_ Don't worry about it kids, Hyung will be fine, he's tough and he's been through worse. Everything is going to be okay you hear me.

Vernon couldn't help but feel somewhat calmer at the assurance of one of his Hyungs. Even though he's the second youngest in their group he still has some trouble being doted on and stuff by the older members. He was the oldest child in his own biological family and he was used to being the one doing this stuff to his younger sister, not the other way around. His attention was brought back to his phone when he heard it go off again. He glanced down and saw the text and his heart stopped.

_Dinoy:_ Pull over now. Something's wrong with Jeonghan-Hyung. NOW!

This couldn't be good. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Hoshi was just a little bit pensive about the car ride at the moment. Minghao looked like he was about ready to kill somebody. They say that you can tell a lot about a person by seeing their face when they drive. Anybody watching his dongsaeng at the moment would think that Minghao was some sort of psycho killer or something. He was sitting hunched over in the driver's seat with a grim frown on his face and he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world other than here at this moment. Soonyoung felt bad for him though, he knew that Minghao was stressed out, they all were, though he handles it in a different way than everyone else. What he was stressed out about though? Soonyoung couldn't tell you, though he does have an idea about it. But he's too attached to all of his body parts to say anything to him. Maybe he could get Jeonghan, or Wonwoo, or literally anybody else to ask him, but not him. And it might have something to do with the fact that Soonyoung has already asked the younger what was bothering him and almost got his head bit off. Well, Soonyoung didn't want to go for round 2 so he was just going to keep his mouth shut.   


Though the problem was pretty obvious to him, and most of the other members too. Minghao was in love, and he wasn't just in love with anybody, he was in love with Mingyu, his best friend and fellow team mate. And on top of all of this, they have this really secret group of bad guys coming after them and doing everything in their power to try and kill them. And Hoshi would be stressed out too since before Minghao had this realization, they shot the closest thing that he had to a blood brother and almost killed him. And Soonyoung knows that the night that Jun got shot was way more traumatizing to the younger thief than he let on. He's always made it a point to stay within the sight range of both Jun and Mingyu at all times if he could. And Soonyoung knows that he's not the only one who sees the anxious look on the younger's face when he can't find either one of them in a crowd or something. It was part of the reason that he was always so grouchy on missions now, he couldn't see them, only hear them. And saying that you're fine is not the same thing as seeing that you are fine. Soonyoung can understand why Minghao has been acting odd for the past couple of months, he just couldn't understand why it appears that Minghao hasn't realized it at all sooner though. It was driving Soonyoung crazy! 

Soonyoung was brought out of his musings when he heard his phone ping and vibrate in his pocket. Wondering what was going on he stuck his hand in his pocket to fish his phone to see what was going on. Pulling his phone out and looking at his home screen to see what was going on sent a shock of surprise and alarm to his system. 

_Dinoy:_ Hey, Cheol-Hyung said to check in on you guys to make sure that you're still alive and are following our car. So are you?

**Veronnie:** Yeah we're right behind you. Mingyu-Hyung is looking right at the back of Cheol-Hyung's head. And Seomin-Hyung's freaking out about losing you guys, so don't worry we're right behind you. How's Jeoghan-Hyung? Seokmin-Hyung's worried about him.

_TigerKing:_ Hey Channie, we're right behind you guys, though I would tell your brother to go faster, HaoHao has that look on his face that he has when he's getting ready to just plow through the traffic in front of him and he doesn't really care what happened. He looks like an angry little frog. And what Verno said too, how's Hyung?

_Dinoy:_ I told Hyung, he said to tell Minghao-Hyung to chill. He doesn't want to get pulled over, a ticket, or in an accident on the way home. We'll get there eventually. And Jeonghan-Hyung seems fine. He's still knocked out cold against Joshua-Hyung, and hasn't woken up since we left. Cheol-Hyung is hoping that he can sleep the whole way home.

**Veronnie:** That's good, I hope Hyung is okay.

_TigerKing:_ Don't worry about it kids, Hyung will be fine, he's tough and he's been through worse. Everything is going to be okay you hear me. 

And Soonyoung really hoped that he wasn't bulldhitting the kids. He really hoped and prayed that everything was going to turn out alright in the end. He really wasn't sure what he was going to do with himself if it didn't. But now was not the time to dwell on these things. He had a job to do, they all did and for him to get it done he had to get focused. After all he was one of the second in commands and he needed to be on top of his game. He wasn't planning on getting any of his family killed and that's what was going to happen if he didn't shape up soon. Setting his phone done for a moment. Soonyoung looked in the back rearview mirror. It looked like that Wonwoo had his headphones in and was tuning everyone else out so that he didn't have to talk about anything. Which Soonyoung can understand he would be upset too if his mother was like Wonwoo's and had to confront her the way that he did. Though he couldn't help but worry about him though. Wonwoo was his friend, he cared about him a lot, and he really wanted him to be okay. (It was not a crush no matter what Jihoon or anyone else told you!) But for now he decided to leave him alone, he didn't want to get into another screaming match with him, again. The other two people in the backseat were curled up against each other and were fast asleep. Soonyoung couldn't help but to internally coo at the sight. He was glad that Jun and Jihoon were finally able to get their feelings out in the open and everything worked out in the end. It warmed his heart a lot. They deserved to be happy.  


Turning his attention back to the driver of the car, Soonyoung was about to tell Minghao that Seungcheol told him to let up on the lead foot thing for once when his phone pinged again. Pulling his phone back up to his face so that he could read it. When he first read it he was shocked a little bit. He had to reread twice to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating it.

_Dinoy:_ Pull over now. Something's wrong with Jeonghan-Hyung. NOW!

Crap, this wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. "Minghao pull over now!" Soonyoung screamed and woke up the whole car. Everyone screamed again when Minghao swerved to get off the road and took a few years off their lives while he was at it. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Jeonghan didn't know how long he had been asleep for, to be honest he didn't even really remember falling asleep earlier. The last thing that he could clearly remember was puking his guts out in one of the many bathrooms in Mingyu's family's vacation home, with Joshua and Seungcheol hovering around him. He was slightly confused on where he was now and how he got there, but he felt too warm to do anything about it. He could guess that he was wrapped up in some sort of blanket and was sleeping on someone's shoulder. He was quite comfortable if he must admit and it would be easy for him to go back to sleep. But he heard soft mummers of people's voices around him and him being nosy wanted to know what was going on. So he just sat back and listened. 

Nothing much was going on though. He could hear the car radio playing softly in the background playing some of the ballad songs that he knows that Seungcheol loves but will never admit that he likes them. He could hear Cheol and Chan up in the front two seats of the car talking quietly amongst themselves. Though their voices were too quiet so Jeonghan couldn't make out what they were saying though, so he just gave up on that. He would much rather listen to the calming sound of Joshua's heartbeat. It was slow and steady and Jeonghan could end up falling asleep to it again if he really tried hard enough. Though he couldn't tell if the other man was asleep or not, it didn't really bother him at the moment. He was warm, and tired, and warm, he didn't really care a whole lot about what was going on around him at the moment. 

After a few moments, the heat was really starting to get to him. It made him kind of uncomfortable, and he didn't really know why. Out of all three of them Seungcheol was the one who ran like a furnace. Joshua was usually able to regulate his body temperature okay, and Jeonghan was the one who froze all of the time. It was part of the reason that he stole their clothes half the time to layer to keep warm. (At least that was the excuse he used on Seungcheol when the other got mad because Jeonghan took all of his sweatshirts, but he couldn't help it. They were soft and smelled like him, and it calmed his nerves a lot.) But for some reason, it was really hot in the car. At first he thought that it was just because it was cold outside and he was bundled up in layers and blankets, soaking up Joshua's body heat, while Seungcheol had the heat turned on so that they could see going down the road. It wasn't until he felt his stomach starting to roll that he realized what was going on. With the way that his stomach was rolling, Jeonghan gave himself about 10 minutes top before he threw up. And the motion of the car was not helping him at all. He needed to get Seungcheol to pull over, and stop the car, or something. He really didn't want to throw up in the car and he knew that no one, even though they would do it, didn't want to clean up his vomit from the seat.  


Groaning a little bit as he shifted, Jeonghan was able to move enough to grab Joshua's attention. Chan and Seungcheol were still oblivious up front to what was about ready to go down since they were too busy trying to navigate. Joshua, who was looking at his phone up until he heard some shifting coming from his left. He put his phone down and turned his attention back to his partner. He really thought that Jeonghan was going to sleep the whole way home- well let him rephrase that. He and Seungcheol had hoped that Jeonghan would sleep the whole way home. They both knew that Jeonghan didn't feel well, and everyone knew that Jeonghan was really bad to get motion sick if he wasn't the one driving, he was worse than Seungcheol and that was saying something. So the two weren't a good combination and if he was waking up now then there really was a good chance that something bad is about to happen. And Joshua really hopes that's not the case.(And yes, with their luck lately he knew that it was very stupid to say something like that, because that just jinxes them all to Hell, but a guy can hope alright?) 

"Hey baby." Joshua whispered softly when he saw Jeonghan's eyes open. The elder's eyes were still blurry and unfocused, and Joshua guessed that he was still half-asleep. It took him a few moments to get a response out of him though. Jeonghan just grunted at him, Joshua just smiled at him and leaned down to kiss him on the forehead. That got Jeonghan's attention, and it looked like it brought him back to reality. Jeonghan just groaned and curled up further into himself and he had an arm wrapped around himself. Joshua took this as a sign of bad things to come. Taking the hand connected to his arm that he didn't have wrapped around Jeonghan, Joshua brushed a piece of hair out of his face. "What's wrong Han?" He whispered to him. Jeonghan didn't say anything for a couple of minutes at first. He just buried his head into Joshua's shoulder and squeezed his eyes shut tight. Joshua patiently waited until Jeonghan was able to communicate what was wrong with him, even though he already had a guess about what was going on. "Think I'm gonna puke." Jeonghan mumbled into his shoulder. And Joshua knew that he just jinxed them all. Great. 

Taking a deep breath he turned his attention back to Jeonghan. "You think you're going to puke, or you know that you're going to puke?" He asked him. He had to ask for clarification. If Jeonghan was going to puke then he knew that they needed to stop now, even though they were in the middle of nowhere at the moment and they didn't have a choice. And the chaos that would ensure afterwards would just have to happen. If Jeonghan thought that he was going to be sick then that bought them more time. Not a lot of time, but it would give Seungcheol a chance to find a better place to pull over. But from the look that Jeonghan was giving him, he had a feeling that this was going to be the first option. "I'm gonna puke." He told him softly. And Joshua really wanted to say some things at this, but he wasn't going to, because now was not the time. (No matter how much he really, really, wanted to.) "Okay." Joshua told him. "Just hold on for a couple of seconds okay?" Joshua asked him. Jeonghan just mutely nodded his head at him. Joshua sighed to himself as he turned his head to Seungcheol up at the front. He got Seungcheol's eye in the rearview mirror and he didn't even have to say anything to him before Seungcheol was swerving off of the road, and yelling at Chan to text everyone to get off too. And the madness was starting.  


Joshua really wanted to smack Seungcheol at the moment, even though he was in a hurry to get them pulled over, the jerky motion of the car wasn't helping Jeonghan's stomach at all. And he knew that when Jeonghan groaned and started gagging. And Joshua thought that this was his Karma for something horrible that he did in a past life coming back to bite him in the ass. "Damn it Seungcheol! Be careful you idiot!" Joshua yelled from the backseat. Seungcheol sent out a sheepish 'sorry' over his shoulder as he was putting the car into park. And Chan was in the front seat and was busy texting the rest of the group, telling them about the situation and what was going on. 

Chan was busy texting Soonyoung and Vernon about what was going on since he was texting the two of them earlier. And he was hoping that they would answer him quickly. He wasted no time at all when Seungcheol told him to start texting.

_Dinoy:_ Hey, Cheol-Hyung said to check in on you guys to make sure that you're still alive and are following our car. So are you?

**Veronnie:** Yeah we're right behind you. Mingyu-Hyung is looking right at the back of Cheol-Hyung's head. And Seomin-Hyung's freaking out about losing you guys, so don't worry we're right behind you. How's Jeoghan-Hyung? Seokmin-Hyung's worried about him.

_TigerKing:_ Hey Channie, we're right behind you guys, though I would tell your brother to go faster, HaoHao has that look on his face that he has when he's getting ready to just plow through the traffic in front of him and he doesn't really care what happened. He looks like an angry little frog. And what Verno said too, how's Hyung?

_Dinoy:_ I told Hyung, he said to tell Minghao-Hyung to chill. He doesn't want to get pulled over, a ticket, or in an accident on the way home. We'll get there eventually. And Jeonghan-Hyung seems fine. He's still knocked out cold against Joshua-Hyung, and hasn't woken up since we left. Cheol-Hyung is hoping that he can sleep the whole way home.

**Veronnie:** That's good, I hope Hyung is okay.

_TigerKing:_ Don't worry about it kids, Hyung will be fine, he's tough and he's been through worse. Everything is going to be okay you hear me.

He typed out the message on the screen and hit send and waited.

_Dinoy:_ Pull over now. Something's wrong with Jeonghan-Hyung. NOW!

It didn't take that long for the two of them to respond.

**Veronnie:** Oh my God, holy crap! Is Hyung okay?! I told Mingyu-Hyung to pull over, we should still be right behind you.

_TigerKing:_ Chan-ah, what's going on? What's wrong with Hyung? HaoHao is pulling over now, we'll be there in a couple of minutes. What do you guys need?

And Chan didn't know how to respond to that. He didn't know what to do anymore, and he was just so lost and overwhelmed it wasn't funny. He didn't know that he was crying until he felt the tears running down his face. He jumped a little bit when he felt a hand on his thigh. He turned his head and looked at his older brother. Seungcheol was giving him a calm and reassuring look that he always gave him when he was little to tell him that everything was going to be okay. And regardless of whether or not that was true, it always seemed to do the trick for him. He really thought for a couple of moments that everything was okay. Then he heard the car door slam open and someone start vomiting. And that calmness went out the window. This was really going to be a very long night. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

As soon as the car stopped, Jeonghan was out of the car and on the side of the road puking his guts up, for the upteenth time that night. He was so sick and tired of dealing with this shit. And he would have fallen over in his own vomit had it not been for Joshua and Seungcheol keeping him up right. It was times like these that he always thought about how lucky he was that he had the two of them in his life. Also, there were those negative thoughts about how he wondered how they were able to put up with him and all of his crap, and thinking about how long it was going to take before they left him too, just like everyone else does. But he was too nauseous to really think about stuff like that though. 

He was vaguely aware of Chan getting out of the car and heading off to get the others. It would make sense that the other two cars that their group was using pulled over too. Seungcheol didn’t want any of them to get separated, and he felt more comfortable having all of them together. Which Jeonghan thought was sweat, and he would have thought that it was even sweeter had he not been in the middle of puking his guts up. God, he really wanted this to stop, it was starting to get old and it took a lot out of his body. After what felt like an eternity, which in reality was probably only like 15 to 20 minutes top, he was done. He had spent the last 5 to 10 minutes of this ordeal dry-heaving and he finally felt like he was done. There was nothing left in his stomach to get rid of, like 15 minutes ago, but it took his body a while to realize that. Exhausted and really unable to hold himself up anymore, he collapsed back into someone’s chest. He could tell that it was most likely Seungcheol and just let himself relax and be held as a pair of arms snaked around him. But he wasn’t that lucky. As soon as he was done, he felt someone cup his chin and turn his head to face him. He came face to face with his other lover, and he saw all of the concern that Joshua held in his eyes. He hates to make either of them worry, though he knows that they’re going to anyway. He didn’t like to worry the rest of the kids either, but it hit him harder when it was one of his lovers for some reason. Jeonghan knew that this was going to be a very, very long night. And he hates long nights. 

“How are you feeling?” Joshua asked him. It took Jeonghan a while to be able to get his mouth to be able to work right to respond to him. “Like shit.” He said bluntly. He knew that it was a little crass, but at least he was able to get a smile out Joshua, and he could feel Seungcheol chuckle against his back. “Well, at least you’re honest with us about this for once.” Joshua said as he moved about to wipe off his face and check for a temperature. “Are you okay?” Joshua asked him. “What are your symptoms?” “Just nauseous, I felt fine when I woke up, and then it just went to shit from there.” He told him. Joshua just hummed in response, then he turned his head and called for Seungkwan and Seokmin to come over. “I know I couldn’t find one, but could the two of you check him out to make sure he’s alright, out of the three of us you two are the most unbiased.” Joshua told them. The two of them just nodded their heads and went to check him out. Jeonghan remained quiet as he was checked out and only talked when he was asked questions. Seungcheol just rubbed his arm as a sign of comfort and hoped that it would keep him calm. Though the only thing that Seokmin and Seungkwan could come up with was that he got motion sick on top of whatever bug he had picked up. Which wasn’t a whole lot of help but it was better than nothing they supposed.  


Once they all were sure that Jeonghan could hold down some water and he wasn’t going to go all exorcist on them again, Seungcheol called for them to move out. Though he did call for some seating rearrangements just to be on the safe side. He pulled Seokmin into the car with him, Chan, Joshua and Jeonghan. Chan would be driving with Seokmin as the navigator, while Seungcheol joined his two lovers in the backseat. It was a precaution in case Jeonghan got sick again on the way home and they couldn’t pull over. So he pulled Soonyoung over to take Seokmin’s place in Mingyu’s car, so each car would have one of the leaders in it. Made more sense to him in his head and made him feel slightly less like he wanted to pull his hair out. Now all that they had to do was to get everyone else loaded back up into the cars and on the road. Easier said than done though. 

It took a little while to get Jeonghan’s stomach to settle enough before they were able to set off again. Chan and Seokmin were up front with the seats changed, and the engine running and everything going. While the three eldest were cuddled up in the back with Jeonghan in the middle. Seungcheol was sitting behind Chan, and Joshua behind Seokmin. Both of them had Jeonghan wrapped up in their abundance of blankets and the necessary things out in case he got sick again. Over the years they had learned what to do since so many of their members got motion sick or were prone to stomach illnesses. Seungcheol waited to give the okay until he was sure that Jeonghan had dozed off again. When he was sure he told Chan to go and for Seokmin to tell everyone else. And so they were back on the road again. He just hoped that they were able to make it home without further incident. Hopefully. Please, whoever’s listening he’s begging here. He’s not above graveling at this point. He’s serious.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once they were able to get Jeonghan back in the car and had done some changes in the seating arrangement they were back in the car on the way home. Minghao was so glad to be back in the car on the way home. Even though he was exhausted just like everyone else, he really just wanted to go home and go to bed. But for that to happen he had to get there first. Minghao will admit that this has not been his day, week, month, and even the last decade or so of his life was very questionable. It was times like these that he thinks that he just wasn’t meant to have a good life. Though he squashed that thought almost immediately, if anyone else in the group found out that he was thinking like that again he was going to get sent to Irene. And it’s not that he doesn't like the woman, that’s not it at all. She helped Jeonghan out a lot and he’s very grateful for that. It’s just that he doesn’t like talking about himself, especially his feelings in general. He’s always been like that, and going into the ‘Agency’ only made it worse. He didn’t want to talk to anyone else about it though. Sometimes he’ll talk to Jun, and he’s been very vague about it to Jeonghan and made a few off-handed comments about it to Mingyu, but other than that he’s kept his mouth shut and it was going to stay that way. But he will admit that he was worried though. He’s never seen Jeonghan get this bad and with everything else going on on top of it, Minghao felt a little overwhelmed at the prospect of everything. 

He will admit that the atmosphere of the car he was in was a lot calmer now. Soonyoung had moved to the other car to take Seokmin’s place after they had to stop last time. Seungcheol wanted another med student on board in case something were to happen with Jeonghan again. And he wanted one leader in each car in case of emergency. Which was a smart idea, and Minghao liked it, if only for the fact that it got the number of people who were willing to bug him about his life and personal problems down from 4 to 3. Which wasn’t a lot but he was going to take what he could get at the moment. And don’t get him wrong he loved Soonyoung, he really did, the two of them got along great with one another. But he was like a dog with a bone when it came to other people’s problems. He never let up until he got the full story and was able to figure out a way to help you. And Minghao just wanted to be left alone. He didn’t want to talk about his problems, he didn’t want to talk about Mingy, and he definitely didn’t want to talk about his problems with Mingyu. End of story, and never to be brought up again. Sadly, he still had Jun in the car with him, who was sitting right next to him. And they still had 3 hours until they got home. Oh joy. 

The car that he was in was very quiet, and normally Minghao liked the quiet, but this time it was a little unnerving. Never in his life did he ever think that Jun would ever be quiet. Jun talked all the time, even though he was one of the more reserved members of their group, he still was one of the most chattest. The only other time that Jun was this quiet was when he was shot, and was out cold in the hospital. And that made Minghao feel sick to his stomach. And he didn’t know how Jun could pick up on his mood, but he somehow was always able to figure out when something was wrong with him. “Don’t worry HaoHao.” Jun told him softly as he brought a hand to rest on his knee as the younger drove. “I'm okay.” he told him. Minghao didn’t say anything to that, he just took a deep breath and nodded his head. “I know.” He told him softly. He could see Jun smile at him out of the corner of his eyes, and he felt a little bit more relaxed than he did beforehand. That didn’t last long. 

“You know that you have to tell him right?” Jun asked him all of a sudden. Minghao, even though he was surprised and a little caught off guard by the question, tried his best not to show it. Though Jun probably saw right through him anyway. “What are you talking about Ge?” Minghao asked him. He glanced back into the rearview mirror, and saw that Jihoon and Wonwoo were still asleep, or at least they appeared to be. “Don’t play dumb Minghao-ah, it doesn’t suit you well.” Jun told him. And damn it, he was caught and Jun wasn’t going to let this go. “No.” Minghao told him. “I’m not telling him anything.” He said. He didn’t have to look at Jun to know that the elder was rolling his eyes at him. “You know that’s not fair to either of you right?” Jun said. “Mingyu deserves to know just as much as you would benefit from telling him.” “How do you know that?” Minghao asked him defensively. “You and Jihoon-Hyung didn’t do that.” He told him. “And look what happened to us.” Jun bit back. “I got shot and almost died.” Jun told him. “Minghao, I was lucky to survive and we all know that.” He said. “How would you feel if the same thing happened to Mingyu-ah and he didn’t make it.” Minghao felt his heart clench painfully at that remark. He hated thinking about how close he was to losing Jun, it was the easiest way to bring on a panic attack for him these days. And the thought of losing Mingyu made him feel like he was going to vomit. He knew that he needed to tell him but he was scared. 

“I’m scared Gege.” Minghao admitted to him quietly. “I don’t know what to do.” He told him. Jun squeezed his knee reassuringly. “Don’t overthink it HaoHao.” Jun told him. “Do you love him?” He asked. Minghao didn’t even hesitate to answer him. “Yes, I love Mingyu.” He told him. “But how do I know he feels the same way?” He asked Jun. Jun just chuckled at him. “Gyu-ah’s been following you around like a little lost puppy since you first joined silly.” Jun told him. “It’s so obvious to everyone but you that he’s in love with you.” And somehow he still had trouble believing it. Part of the reason why he was always so scared to admit his feelings to Mingyu was, he thought that Mingyu deserved better than him. Minghao had issues, problems, baggage that no one really wanted to deal with even him. To put it bluntly he was broken and he didn’t want to burden Mingyu with himself. He could never give Mingyu what he wanted or expected, Minghao was destined to be alone and he just had to get used to that. But Mingyu has always made him second guess himself. Maybe he didn’t have to be alone after all. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Mingyu's nerves were fried, they really were at this point. Today really took a lot out of him, that much he was willing to admit, but he just couldn't get into words how much. He really was worried about Wonwoo. He knew that the elder never had that good of a relationship with his family. The Jeons always and only cared about money, and how they could get it. And it didn’t matter to them what they had to do to get it. Wonwoo always thought about others. He cared about those around him, and he wanted to do everything in his power to help those in need. It was part of the reason that Mingyu has always looked up to him ever since they were kids. He just always seemed so cool and untouchable to Mingyu, like a superhero or something. But, in situations like these, it dawned on Mingyu that wasn’t the case. Wonwoo was just as human as the rest of them were, and he had his own feelings and emotions. He wasn’t immune to everyday problems either.  


Driving along the road, it was very nerve racking for him, especially since everything was so quiet. After they had to stop when Jeonghan-Hyung got sick, they played a little switcheroo with the seating arrangements on the cars. Seokmin moved to the Hyung’s car to be with Jeonghan in case something went wrong. And Soonyoung took his place, so that they at least had one leader in each car. And Soonyoung was one of the members who always talked a lot, and was lively and one of the moodmakers in the group. But now though, he was quiet, though that could be partly because Vernon and Seungkwan had fallen asleep on each other in the backseat. Really, it just boggled Mingyu’s mind on how two people are so obviously in love with each other and yet they can’t see that the person they love returns their feelings. How dense can you be? (Oh, if only Mingyu knew right?” But he couldn’t keep quiet anymore. He had to talk or he felt like he was going to explode! 

“Hyung?” Mingyu asked him quietly. Even though he was itching to say something, he didn’t want to wake Vernon and Seungkwan, at least someone in this group deserved to get some sleep tonight, or morning? Soonyoung made a humming noise and looked up from his phone at him. “Yeah Gyu, what’s wrong?” Soonyoung asked him. Mingyu paused for a couple of minutes, he really didn’t know what to do or to say. He had a million things on his mind, but he didn’t know how to go about telling someone his troubles. “Is Wonwoo-Hyung going to be okay?” He decided to voice the worry that was the most forefront on his mind at the moment. Glancing out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Soonyoung flinch. “I honestly don’t know Gyu.”Soonyoung told him. “I want to tell you yes, I really, really do and I wish that I could do it, but I don’t know.” He said. “I’d like to think that Won would be okay, he’s strong and he can take a lot of shit and just roll with it but… this is different, and I know that you know more about his family history than I do, and if you still have to ask this.. Then I don’t know.” Soonyoung explained to him. “I know that this isn’t the answer that you wanted here, it’s the truth and I hope that’s enough for you.” And while Soonyoung was right, it wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear, at least he was told the truth. 

“You like him don’t you?” Mingyu asked him. And out of all of the things that Mingyu could have asked him, this was the one thing that Soonyoung dreaded the most. He’s never really expressed his attraction to Wonwoo, and the only one who really knows about it is Jihoon and he swore the hacker to secretkey. Maybe he wasn’t as subtle as he thought he was though. And there was no point in denying it now. “Yes, yes I do.” Soonyoung told him honestly. And for a while Mingyu didn’t say anything, and Soonyoung was beginning to wonder whether he was upset or something about this. “You would be good for him.”Mingyu told him. “And if it’s any consolation I think Hyung likes you too.” Soonyoung pointedly decided to ignore the fluttering of his heart at that comment. He couldn’t get his hopes up here, Mingyu could be wrong, he had to remind himself of that. “How do you gather that?” Soonyoung asked him. “He doesn’t show it.” He told him. “Oh, but he does Hyung, he does, it’s just that Wonwoo-Hyung does it differently, you just have to know where to look for it.” Mingyu told him. But that didn’t help him at all. “Whatever you say Gyu-ah.” Soonyoung told him. “I'll take your word for it.” He told him. 

“Speaking of love interests.” Soonyoung said nonchalantly. “What are you going to do about HaoHao?” Soonyoung asked him in a teasing tone. He looked over and saw how red Mingyu got. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mingyu said as he tried to deny it. “Hao, and I are just best friends.” He told him. “Really, then why do you follow him around like a little lost puppy?” Soonyoung asked him. “And don’t you try to deny it here mister, you’ve been doing it since the first day that you met him.” Mingyu didn’t say anything about that. “So what if I might like him as more than a best friend, what am I supposed to do about it?” Mingyu asked him. “Oh I don’t know, how about you tell him about it maybe?” Soonyoung suggested. “Oh yeah? Then why haven’t you done that to Wonwoo-Hyung?” Mingyu asked him. Soonyoung wasn’t going to answer that. “As the old saying does, do as I tell you, not as I do.” Soonyoung told him. He could see Mingyu rolling his eyes at him. “Hey just be glad that you’re not having this discussion with Jeonghan-Hyung.” He told him. Both of them laughed quietly at that. Their Hyung was very well known for knowing every single thing that went on in the household before anyone else knew it. And he always knew what to do, how to fix it, and how to get even more dirt on you. “He’s going to be okay right?” Mingyu asked in a soft voice. Soonyoung really wanted to be able to tell him yes, but he just couldn’t. “I don’t know Mingyu.” Soonyoung told him. “I just don’t know anymore.” And they spent the rest of the drive home in silence. They still had 3 hours of driving time left at this point.  


\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Finally, they were home. Seungcheol really felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders as Chan pulled up to their building. Even though they haven’t been gone only but a day or so, it still felt so good to be home. Now all that they had to do was to regroup with all of the information that they and Bangtan had found and make some sort of plan to take the Black Dragon down. But all of that could start tomorrow. After the week that he’s had, especially after tonight, they all needed to sleep for at least 8 hours. And he knows that Joshua and them have a shift coming up soon at the hospital and they needed to at least look like they were functioning adults. Now, all that he had to do was to get all 13 of them in the apartment and lock the door. Easier said than done. 

Once the car was put in park, Seungcheol leaned over and nudged Joshua to wake him up. He had fallen asleep along with Jeonghan at some point on the drive home. Seungcheol knew that he probably should have gotten some sleep as well too, but he was too anxious to do anything but stay up and keep watch. His body was buzzing and he couldn’t relax enough to sleep. He hasn’t felt like this in a very, very long time. When Joshua woke up he looked at Seungcheol with bleary eyes, and he didn’t seem to really be awake. Seungcheol gave it a few minutes before he mouthed ‘ _Will you take him?_ ’ He asked motioning to Jeonghan. Joshua nodded his head as he moved to wake up their lover, as Seungcheol got out of the car. He went to the back and helped Chan and Seokmin unload some of the luggage in the trunk. He then went to go and check on the rest of the members. Mingyu and them were working like an assembly line unloading and taking things up to the landing to wait with the rest of the luggage. They were just waiting on everyone else before they went into the apartment. On jobs like these it was protocol that they didn’t go in alone in case something happened in the apartment. Seungcheol waved at Soonyoung as he went by and the thief waved at him as he went back to having Mingyu throw suitcases at him. Minghao and them all seemed quiet, a little bit too quiet. Jihoon waved to him as he walked up and told him that they sent Jun to his car with Joshua and them while they unloaded. Even though it had been months since the other had been shot, they still weren’t letting him do any sort of physical exertion. Which the leader knew was driving Jun nuts, but he was the one who chose to ride with his boyfriend and the overprotective little brother. After doing his walkthrough, he went back to his car and got the last of their things and waited for the rest of them. 

It didn’t take that much longer for everyone to meet and with a collective sound of the cars locking, they all headed up to their apartment. Seungcheol was carrying a good bit of their luggage as he was helping Joshua walk Jeonghan up the stairs. Their apartment was only on the 5th floor, but they had no elevator, and Jeonghan wasn’t in the best condition to be able to walk up the stairs. It was very slow going, and Seungcheol could see the shadow of the sun rising in the background as they made the trek up the stairs. They finally got to their front door. And just as Chan who was in front was getting out the keys to unlock the door he paused. Everyone came to a halt behind him, and it made Seungcheol worried. Why did his little brother stop? “Channie?” Seungcheol asked him. “Hyung, the door’s open.” Chan told him. And Seungcheol felt his heart stop. Immediately he dropped his stuff and pulled his little brother back to Joshua and Jeonghan. He had Mingyu, Wonwoo, Soonyoung, and Vernon come in with him to scope it out. Everyone else was supposed to stay outside and if things went south they were to run and never look back. Something about this wasn’t right here. 

Cracking open the door slowly, Seungcheol peaked his head into the room. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong or out of place from what he could see. But they weren’t going to be taking any chances about this. Opening the door fully he had everyone fan out and check what was going on. Mingyu went to the kitchen. Wonwoo the office, Soonyoung, and Vernon the bedrooms, and bathrooms, and Seungcheol checked out in front of their living room. So far, Seungcheol hasn’t been able to find anything wrong, and he didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried. He always makes sure that the door is locked behind them when they leave the apartment, and they are the only ones with keys to the place. Seungcheol didn’t know what to make of this. It wasn’t until he heard Mingyu yelling and running into the living room looking for him. The noise that he made had Wonwoo and the rest of the crew searching the apartment come running into the room. “What is it Mingyu-ah?” Seungcheol asked as the taller came up to him. “I found this on the counter underneath some boxes of rice.” Mingyu told him. The younger man handed him a plain white envelope. Seungcheol took it in his hand and inspected it. After a couple of minutes he took a chance and opened it. And what was inside made his heart sink into his stomach. This was not good, not good at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think is in the note? 
> 
> -N.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's in the letter, and all of the chaos that a simple piece of paper can cause. Who the gang is going to get some much needed help from. And a surprise visitor at the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, but I finally finished all of my one shots that I had to write. So now I can focus my attention on finishing this out, and planning out the last part of my Voltron series. I'm not sure how much longer this thing is going to be. I feel like I'm moving to fast, so I try to drag this out as much as possible, but since I write very long chapters, I normally get everything done that I want to cover in one go. So as of right now, the most chapters that are going to be put out is like 30? I have no update schedule, but I wrote this all in like less than 2 days so who knows when the next one is going to come out. Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you get on with reading. Have a nice day and stay safe out there folks!   
> -N.

Chapter 22

_Last time on SEVENTEEN...._

_Cracking open the door slowly, Seungcheol peaked his head into the room. There didn't seem to be anything wrong or out of place from what he could see. But they weren't going to be taking any chances about this. Opening the door fully he had everyone fan out and check what was going on. Mingyu went to the kitchen. Wonwoo the office, Soonyoung, and Vernon the bedrooms, and bathrooms, and Seungcheol checked out in front of their living room. So far, Seungcheol hasn't been able to find anything wrong, and he didn't know whether to be relieved or worried. He always makes sure that the door is locked behind them when they leave the apartment, and they are the only ones with keys to the place. Seungcheol didn't know what to make of this. It wasn't until he heard Mingyu yelling and running into the living room looking for him. The noise that he made had Wonwoo and the rest of the crew searching the apartment come running into the room. "What is it Mingyu-ah?" Seungcheol asked as the taller came up to him. "I found this on the counter underneath some boxes of rice." Mingyu told him. The younger man handed him a plain white envelope. Seungcheol took it in his hand and inspected it. After a couple of minutes he took a chance and opened it. And what was inside made his heart sink into his stomach._

Seungcheol felt like he was going to puke. He was experiencing a large mixture of emotions all at once. He was furious, livid, terrified, and worried all at once. And those were just the ones that he was able to identify himself. He was bewildered, he couldn't believe it and probably wouldn't if it wasn't for the fact that he had the evidence right in front of him. Reading the letters gave him chills.

**_Dear Mr. Choi-ssi,_ **

**_I see that you have found this letter that was left for you by one of our opprotives. I must say I expected better of you and your team. From what my employees told me it was fairly easy for them to locate your base of operations and break in. You really need to up your security if you don't want anyone to find you._ **

**_I apologize, I'm getting off topic here. The real reason that I did this was to get your attention. And now that I've done it I would like to meet with you. You and your team have something that I desire from you. If you refuse to meet with me then I can assure you, you will regret it. I've attached some little pieces of incentive to hopefully influence your decision. And if you even think about contacting the authorities, remember you just as much likely to get arrested for your crimes as I am if not more, and I'll make sure that it's you who goes down instead of me. Remember Mr. Choi I am always watching._ **

**_Sincerely,_ **

**_The Black Dragon._ **

**_P.S._ **

**_Have a nice day son._ **

"Hyung what is it?" Mingyu asked him. "What does it say?"He asked him. It took Seungcheol a couple of more moments than he liked to be able to give him a response. "Hyung, why do you look like you've seen a ghost." Hansol asked him. And hearing the younger's voice seemed to snap the leader out of his mind. "It's a letter." Seungcheol said. "It's from the Black Dragon," He told them. "He knows where we live." Almost immediately you could feel the temperature drop in the room. Everyone was stunned beyond belief at this point. They had been so careful to keep where they live a secret. They knew that if anyone ever found out where they live then things could get dangerous. And that's exactly what just happened. Nothing like this had ever happened to them before and in all honesty it was pretty terrifying for them all. 

"What do you mean that he knows where we live?" Jihoon asked as he came up next to the older man to try and read the letter for himself. Even though that was what the letter said, it was still very hard to believe. After all they have always been so careful to cover their tracks. And they've moved around a lot, especially in the beginning, trying to find a place that could hold everyone as their numbers grew. They moved for a flurry of different reasons. They outgrew their housing, or they moved to keep anyone from realising that Chan wasn't living with a parent and the somewhat questionable activities that his guardian got into. They moved to be closer to the hospital and university once the med students came on. They moved to make it harder for Wonwoo's family to track them down(And look how that turned out.), and to keep Jeonghan as far away as possible from his step-father. They moved when MingMing, Doyoon, Dongjin, and Samuel left.(Though both Mingyu and Jeonghan made them stay put for a bit after Sammy left, but after a couple of months they realized that they weren't coming back and Seungcheol was able to convince them to move.) Jihoon and Wonwoo had taken so many different precautions to make them almost invisible. And Minghao, Soonyoung and Jun had servalineced every new place they moved into beforehand. They were so thorough on everything before they even thought about making a move.They were so careful not to be found, and yet they still were anyway. It was a little terrifying and nerve wrecking to find out that all of that hard work they did was for nothing. They might as well just have hung a huge neon sign over their bundling saying that they were there and to come get them at this point. 

"What are we going to do now Hyung?" Hansol asked. "Is it still safe to stay here?" He asked him. Seungcheol had to think about it. He knew that it wasn't safe for them to stay here any longer. They were lucky that they were gone to Busan when the note was dropped or else they would have snuck in while they were asleep or something. And he had no clue what would have happened then and he didn't want to find out what would have happened. "We can't stay here any longer." Seungcheol told them. "It's not safe here anymore, call everyone up from the cars." Seungcheol told them. "Tell them to come in and pack anything else that they might need, I know that we already packed a lot for Busan, but there's a good chance that we're never coming back here again so grab anything that you want to take with you." He told them. "And if we're being watched it might give off the impression that we are unbothered." He said. "So tell them to act like nothing's wrong and just act like we are leaving somewhere else to go on another job." He instructed them. "I have to make a couple of phone calls before we can do anything else though, so get packing." Seungcheol said as he walked off to the back bedroom to make a couple of phone calls. Everyone else that was left started scrambling around trying to get everything done so that they could get the Hell out of Dodge before it was too late. They just hoped that it wasn't too late. 

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"What are you doing out here at this hour Soobinnie?" Said man jumped a little bit from where he was sitting on the edge of the roof of the bundling that he was sitting. Startled, he turned around and saw that Yeonjun was standing behind him at the entrance to the roof. "Hyung what are you doing up here?" Soobin asked as he watched the elder walk closer to him. "I just asked you the same thing silly." Yeonjun said as he took a seat next to the younger. "You never answer me, what are you doing out here Soobin?" He asked him. "You know that Namjoon-Hyung and Jin-Hyung don't like us out here at night, especially with those people going after SEVENTEEN." He told him. Soobin just shrugged his shoulders at him. He knew that Namjoon had been more wary about what was going on with them. Especially with him and Beomgyu, though that probably had more to do with them being his baby cousins. He had already lectured the rest of Bangtan and TXT about staying indoors, and out of site. They were to let the rest of the people that they had working for to handle things until they could get all of it under control. Even though these people weren't after them specifically, if they were going after one group like them it was only a matter of time until they came for them as well. He can understand why his cousin wanted to be so cautious about all of this. 

"Come on Binnie you know that you can talk to me right?" Yeonjun whispered to him. "You promised me that you would." He told him. And all that Soobin could do is sigh at that. He clearly remembers making that promise to the elder. It felt like a lifetime ago now though. They were barely teenagers, Namjoon had just taken over the family business, and Taehyung had barged into their shared apartment at the time one night with a drenched, and dirty Yeonjun in tow with him. He can still remember how furious Jin had looked until he got a really good glimpse of the poor shaking poor. He immediately told him and Beomgyu to go to their room, while he dealt with this. He remembers Jimin and Jeongguk ushering the two youngest at the time into another room while Yoongi called Namjoon to come home, and Hoseok was trying to help Jin figure out what the hell was going on. Later on that night they were properly introduced to Choi Yeonjun, he had been living on the streets, and was working for one of the nasty pimps that Namjoon hated and was trying to get arrested. Taehyun had been out getting groceries for Jin at the store when he had stumbled upon some of the pimp's guys trying to rough Yeonjun up. Taehyun was able to get Yeonjun out of there and then ran all the way home to Jin for help. 

Later that night after his cousin got home, Namjoon had cleared Yeonjun from being a spy and had given the boy the option of either staying or going. After that they had ushered Yeonjun back to where Soobin and Beomgyu were to properly introduce them to one another. Soobin can remember clearly how his baby brother has practically launched himself at the new addition to their family. He hugged Yeonjun so tight that Soobin thought that he was going to cut off the elder's air supply, and the youngest was talking a mile a minute to him. Soobin can't exactly remember what he said but he distinctly remembers "New Hyung," "Best friends forever!" and "Soobin-Hyung's going to love you!" And the two of them almost immediately clicked with one another after that. Yeonjun has always been very protective of Beomgyu, Taehyun and Kai, and that was what started it all. 

It took the two eldest of their group a little while longer to warm up to one another. For the first couple of months it was very awkward and tense between the two of them. But over time they got to know one another and get closer, more comfortable with one another. Eventually, the two of them were attached at the hip, where one went the other was there to follow. But they learned a lot about one another through this. Soobin learned that Yeonjun was also a carrier like his baby brother, that he was an only child, that he got caught up with that pimp after he had run away from the social workers who had come for him after his grandmother died. And Yeonjun learned about Soobin's and Beomgyu's mother, how Namjoon's father took them in. How they ended up living with their older cousin and how they've all become this sort of mismatched family of sorts. The two of them learned that they could rely on one another and could confide in them about anything and everything. And one of the things that Soobin hates about how close they are is that Yeonjun knows that he can't lie to him, and he uses that against him. 

"I know Hyung, trust me I know." Soobin said. "But I have no idea how to vocalize my thoughts out to you this time." He told him. Yeonjun just grabbed his head and leaned his head on the taller's shoulder. "Take you time Soobin, I'll be here waiting when you're ready." He told him. Soobin just nodded at him mutely. The two of them sat together in silence for the next couple of minutes before either one of them said anything. "I'm scared." Soobin finally blurted out. Yeonjun hummed in response, Soobin could feel him move his head off his shoulder to look at him. "Why?" Yeonjun asked him. And Soobin could see the concern plastered across the elder's face. "Do you ever think about it?" Soobin asked him suddenly, jumping topics. Yeonjun just looked at him like he had lost his mind and shook his head. "What are you talking about, you're not making any sense Soobin." He told him. "Think about what?" He asked him. "Love, do you ever think about love?" Yeonjun still looked at him like he was insane. "Love?" He questioned. "I don't know.. Why have you?" He asked him instead. "What does this have to do with anything?" Yeonjun asked him. Soobin could tell that the elder was getting frustrated with Soobin's abrupt turn in conversation topic. 

"Sometimes I'm jealous of Namjoon-Hyung, and the rest of the Hyungs." Soobin told him. "They're in love, they have someone to spend the rest of their lives with, and have families of their own in their own way even with the life that we live." He said. "It reminds me of my aunt and uncle, and how in love they were."He told him. "I've alway wanted something like that, especially after my mother." He confessed. "But I've always been scared because I've never really known what to do, you know my past with my mother, she wasn't the best role model to follow after." He told him. Yeonjun was still looking at him weirdly, but Soobin didn't know what it meant. "What are you trying to get at here Binnie?" Yeonjun asked him. Soobin took a deep breath and looked at Yeonjun one last time before he said anything. "I love you Choi Yeonjun." Soobin said. " I love you and that terrifies me so much." He told him. "I have no clue what I'm doing here, but what with everything going on, I'm so scared that I'm going to lose you if I don't say anything about it now." He confessed to him. 

Yeonjun didn't say anything at first. He just looked at Soobin for a couple of minutes and Soobin was scared that he was going to reject him or worse. "You don't have to be scared Soobin-ah." Yeonjun told him. "I've been in love with you since the first time that I saw you." He told him. "And I've spent these past years harboring a major crush on you." He confessed to him. "I have been so scared that you would find out and hate me for it." He told him. Yeonjun reached out and grabbed both of Soobin's hands and held them in his own. This prompted Soobin to turn and look the elder directly in the eyes. Yeonjun was smiling at him with a giddy smile, and Soobin felt like everything just clicked then and there for them. The two of them ended up leaning in closer to each other and brushed their lips against one another's. It was very brief and chaste but it was still the best feeling ever in the world. "So you mean to tell me that we could have been doing this forever ago if we had just said something?" Soobin questioned. "Yeah." Yeonjun told him. The two of them were just smiling lovingly at one another for a couple of minutes. "Come on, we better get back inside, I told Jin-Hyun that I was going to look for you and he's probably waiting for us." Yeonjun told him. Soobin nodded and the two of them got up from their spot on the ground and headed back inside the bundling hand-in-hand. And for the first time in a long time since all of this started Soobin felt a wave of calm wash over him as he walked in with Yeonjun. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

When Joshua got the call from Soonyoung to bring everyone up and to start packing anything else that they thought they might need, he thought that they were crazy. They had just gotten home, why were they packing to leave again? When he had asked for clarification on the reason why, he thought that his heart was going to stop beating. He thought that they were just going to go home and sleep and then regroup. But when he got the call that whoever was after them had broken into their home. Soonyoung had told him that Mingyu had found a note that they left, and once Seungcheol had read it, he told them to get everyone up and get anything else that they might need and to get on the move. Soonyoung had confided in him before he hung up that he had never seen Seungcheol that rattled before. And that was when Joshua knew that something was really wrong here. 

And to make matters worse they were down a couple of people too. Even though Jun was doing much better in his recovery, it was still a long way away from Joshua being comfortable letting him back into the field. And that doesn't even include the mental and emotional issues that he has to work through as well. Lucky for them it was fairly easy to get everyone up and into the apartment to get them packed and ready. When they got up there Seungcheol was nowhere to be found. Mingyu who had greeted them at the door told them that he had vanished to make a phone call. So they all just hopped into the fray and joined the chaos that was packing. Mingyu had relayed the message that Seungcheol had said to pack like you were never coming back. And that didn't make Joshua feel any better about it. 

He made his way through the chaos that was the living room and headed back to the bedroom that he shared with Jeonghan and Seungcheol. He needed to make sure that he got everything out of his room, keep an eye on a very pale, and unbalanced Jeonghan who made his way back there, and try to find where Seungcheol went. The young med student really had a feeling of dread washing over him as he made his way back into the apartment. He knew that what they did was dangerous and there was always the potential of someone getting seriously hurt, arrested or killed. But it never dawned on him how real that this could be until it actually happened to them. It made his skin crawl just thinking about it all. 

It was obvious to say that he was worried. He was worried about the safety of his family both here and in America. If these people would go to such lengths to get to them, what would they do to get to their families to use as leverage. Granted, most of the members had very strained to no relationship with their families anymore except for a few. But Joshua was one of those few. He really didn't want his mother or father to get hurt. But he knew that if they didn't do something about these people now a lot more people, his parents included were going to get hurt, and he couldn't stand that. He went into medicine to help people, to ease their discomfort, and stop their suffering. It was also part of what drew him to Seungcheol in the first place. Though the gaping wound in his stomach that was bleeding profusely had something to do with it as well. He wasn't going to let these people hurt anyone else. 

He eventually made his way through all of the chaos and reached their bedroom. Normally he would knock to see if anyone was in there, especially if Seungcheol was somewhere on a phone call since he used their room as a conference room. But with the way things were this time he just decided to screw it and open the door. He slowly and quietly as he could opened the door and stuck his head in. He saw Seungcheol sitting on the bed with the phone in one hand and a notebook and pencil in the other. He seemed to be listening to whatever the other person on the other of the line was saying. He creeped in and closed the door quietly behind him. And even though he was quiet Seungcheoll's head still popped up to see who was there. The elder met his eyes and gave him a tired smile. Joshua knew that he was under a lot of stress at the moment so he gave him a small smile of his own back. But he knew that he got the message that this conversation wasn't over with his eyes with the way Seungcheol gave him a sheepish smile. Now that he found one partner, he had to find the other one. And Seungcheol must have been reading his mind or something because of what he did next. The leader cocked his head to the side and motioned with his free hand towards the bathroom. Well, that answered that question. He nodded his head at the leader and headed into the bathroom. 

When he opened the door he found the other man in there. Jeonghan was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, he was bent over with his head between his knees and a bag at his feet. Joshua immediately closed the door and headed over to him. "Hey Jeonghan-ah, are you okay what's wrong?" Joshua asked him as he came to sit down next to him on the edge of the tub. "M'fine." Jeonghan said. He moved back to a sitting position to face the younger. "I'm fine Shua don't worry, just got a little dizzy." He told him. Joshua couldn't help but to frown a little at that. "That doesn't sound fine to me Hannie." He told him sternly. Jeonghan just rolled his eyes at him and went back to the bag at his feet. Joshua reached out and tried to put a hand on the elder's forehead to try and gage his temperature, but he was brushed off. "I told you Joshua I'm fine, but we have shit to do." Jeonghan bit out. And Joshua didn't even flinch at the harsh tone that he was given. He knew that Jeonghan didn't feel well and he was normally very short with everyone "I when it happened. "I know that." Joshua told him. "But that still doesn't mean that you can just ignore your health." He told him. Jeonghan didn't say anything to that, he just got up and continued packing. Joshua just sighed to himself and moved to go help him pack. The sooner that they got out of here and to wherever they're going, the sooner that they can get this over with.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

After Seungcheol had given all of them their orders he had gone back to the bedroom that he shared with Jeonghan and Joshua. He needed to make a couple of phone calls to set some stuff up for them before they could go anywhere or do anything. He went to his side of the bed that he normally slept on and started digging around in one of the drawers on the nightstand. After a couple of seconds he finally found it. He found his little black book that had all of his contact information of all of their allies, clients, and then some. He hoped that whoever broke in didn't find this or else everything was going to get a lot harder than it was. But at least he kept it locked up and hidden in a secret compartment in the nightstand. He had a whole list of people to call. He had to get into contact with NU'EST, and then he had to call Bangtan along with a few other odds and ends before they could do their next step. 

First he was calling NU'EST he had to get in touch with them. They had been in the game a little bit longer than SEVENTEEN has been. They sort of took them under their wings and helped them get on their feet in the beginning. Seungcheol owed them a lot and he wanted to give them a heads up to either join them or scatter and go off the grid for a bit until this all is settled. He owed them at least that. Then he had to call Bangtan. For a series of phone calls ever since they ran into Jeongguk at one of their earlier jobs, he and Namjoon, the leaders, have gotten closer to one another. The two leaders bonded over their struggles and experiences trying to rein in all of their members. Though they really didn't know that much about one another, Seungcheol knew that he could trust him with his life if he really needed to. And Namjoon felt the same way about him, he thought. But at least both of them were on the same page when it came to this. The Black Dragon and his empire needed to be taken down and stopped. Because if they're coming after Seungcheol and his boys, then it was only time before they went after the other crews as well. So it only made sense to work with one another. 

Working with another group had been different at first, but Seungcheol knew that they couldn't do all of this on their own. They needed the extra help whether they wanted it or not. And they had been trying to set a meet up date anyway to work out all of the information that they have gathered. But it looks like they're going to have to speed up their timeline a little bit now. Which was very unexpected, so it's a good thing that he was already preparing for something like this to happen. 

The phone call with JR was very short, Seungcheol told him what was going on, and gave them a heads up. He didn't want to take too long on the phone in case they were being followed. He didn't want to put them in any more danger than they already were. JR had told him that they would lay low for a little while until all of this died down. He told Seungcheol that he would find a way to contact each other so if they needed the help they could always call. Seungcheol appreciated the gesture and told them to be safe. JR told him the same thing and that was the end of it. After that he pulled up Namjoon's number in his book and started dialing. 

It only took a couple of rings before the elder picked up the phone. "Hello?" Namjoon asked on the other end of the phone. "RM-Hyung, this is Coups." He said. "Ah, S.Coups, to what do I owe the pleasure, I thought that we weren't going to be meeting up until a little bit later." Namjoon told him. Seungcheol just sighed on the other end of the line. "That was the plan Hyung, but we've run into a little bit of a problem." He told him. "We got back from Busan earlier today, and when we came in to sweep the place for bugs, we found something." He explained to him. "That bastard had someone break into our apartment and they left a note saying that they were watching us." He told him. "Thus, we have to pick things up a little bit speed wise." He told him. Namjoon only hummed on the other end. He didn't actually say anything for a couple of minutes, and Seungcheol was starting to get a little bit nervous. "I see, well, what do you have in mind then?" Namjoon asked him. "Just tell me what you need to do Seungcheol-ah and I'll make it happen." He told him. 

Seungcheol was at a loss for words at the moment. He didn't really know how to respond to that. "Well, I have the boys packing everything up, and we have a couple of safehouses that we can divide ourselves up in and move into them." He told him. "And I have a couple of people that I have to track down still that might be in danger from these people." He told Namjoon. "Well, you all are more than welcome to come stay with us for a little bit." Namjoon told him. "We have more than enough room at our place for you guys to stay." He said. "Thank you Hyung, I have to make a couple of phone calls and then I'll see if we have to take you up on that offer." Seungcheol told him. "I know that this is a very difficult time for you Coups, but just know if you ever need anything just call alright." Namjoon reminded him. "I consider you all my dongsaengs too alright, you need help you got it." Seungcheol couldn't help the small smile that bloomed on his face. "Thank you Hyung, I really appreciate this." He told him. "Anytime kid, anytime." Namjoon said before he hung up. 

Seungcheol sighed to himself as he dropped his phone back onto the bed. Now that that was done, he had to go and get Jihoon to track down a couple of people for him. Besides everyone's families which they were going to deal with after this, they still had three loose ends to worry about. One of those loose ends was MingMing. Seungcheol hadn't seen the younger since Jun was in the hospital and he had no idea where he was. He didn't know if he was on their side now or not, or whether he was safe or if he was found by the people looking for them. Then they had the three others who had been in the group beforehand and had previously left. They had to track down Doyoon, Dongjin, and Samuel before these creeps could get their hands on them. He had already failed them as a leader once, he wasn't going for a second time. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

After hanging up the phone with Seungcheol, Namjoon made his way out into the common area of their apartment to give the news. He won't lie, he was slightly unnerved by the fact that someone had broken into SEVENTEEN's homebase. And even though they don't have access to a lot of the resources like Bangtan does, they do a pretty good job at working with what they have. For years they have been able to do their job and keep themselves off the grid. Though people knew about them sure, but only by reputation. And that reputation was a good one at that. Other than that, no one knew a lot about them. People knew more about Bangtan than they did SEVENTEEN at one point, and Namjoon goes out of his way to make sure that they stay out of the spotlight as much as possible. So for this to happen to them, it was just unfathomable. It was a hard pill for Namjoon and the rest of the group to swallow. Because if they can go after one group who's to say that they won't start going after others as well. Namjoon didn't want to be the next one with a target painted on his back so he was going to make sure that whoever this is, it stops here. No one and he means no one was going to hurt his family ever again. 

Walking into the common room he got lucky and found everyone that he was looking for. Yoongi and Hoseok were settled in on the couch on one side. The younger was squished into the arm of the couch on the far side of the room. He seemed to have his attention on whatever was going on in front of him. While the elder was curled up against his side, with Hoseok's arm thrown over his shoulder. Yoongi appears to be almost asleep if he wasn't already. Right next to them were Soobin and Yeonjun. Now Namjoon prides himself on his very high intelligence, so he knows when something is up with his family, especially his little cousin. He knew that Soobin had had a crush on Yeonjun almost since the day that Taehyung brought him home. He really hoped that his cousin would work up the nerve eventually to ask him out. Up until now, he really thought that this wasn't going to happen. Though things changed a couple of days ago when the two of them had disappeared for a couple of hours. Namjoon wanted to know where they were and what they were up to, but Jin had told him not to worry about it and to just let them do their thing. Later that night when they came back in holding hands, he knew that they had made some sort of progress in their relationship. He was very happy for them. 

Everyone else seemed to be scattered out on the floor. They seemed to be playing some sort of card game but he couldn't be certain for sure. Taehyung seemed to be the one in charge of whatever they were doing and he really had no idea what they were doing. Oh, the things that Taehyung and Taehyung only could come up with. But at least at the moment he didn't have to worry about both maknae lines of their groups getting into too much trouble. The only person that he seemed to be missing still was Jin. Though he was probably in the kitchen cooking. He always did that when he was bored, stressed, happy, sad, angry, etc. Cooking was his release from their hectic life and Namjoon wasn't about to get in the way of that. "Joon-ah, what are you doing standing there?" Speak of the devil and he shall appear they say. The leader turned around and saw the eldest standing there right behind him. He still had some flour on his shirt and a wooden spoon in his hand. "Oh Hyung, sorry, I didn't see you there." He told him. Jin just cocked an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong?" Jin asked quietly as he stepped closer to the younger. And God, Jin has always been able to read him like this. "I'll tell everyone at one time Hyung, don't worry." Namjoon told him. "I was just making sure that everyone was here." He said. Jin just nodded and followed Namjoon into the living room. 

Clearing his throat, everyone turned their heads to see Namjoon and Jin standing at the edge of the living room. Namjoon had a serious expression on his face, while Jin looked obviously concerned. "What's wrong Namjoon-Hyung?" Beomgyu asked from his place on the floor. He was sitting in the middle of Taehyung and Kai, but Namjoon could tell that he knew that something was up. That kid has always been able to read a room better than any grifter that he's ever met in his life. "Hyung?" Jeonggul asked as he looked up and saw their expressions. "Joon-ah what's going on?" Yoongi asked as he moved to sit up more against Hoseok. "Well, it's a long story." Namjoon started off with. "Everyone knows how we were helping Kookie's friend's group right?" Namjoon asked. Everyone in the room nodded their heads to that. "Whoever is after them just broke into their apartment when they were out." He told them. 

Everyone had mirrored looks of shock on their faces, and even though Namjoon couldn't see Jin's face at that exact moment he knew that he had one too. "What do you mean they were broken into Hyung?" Taehyun piped up from his place on the floor. "Seungcheol-ah just called me and told me that when they came back from Busan that they found a note in their apartment." He told them. "The note was from the Black Dragon, it was a warning sign." He informed them. "He said that he was calling all of their contacts to give them a heads up about these guys so they could be prepared and vanish for a little bit or help." Namjoon told them. "Which means that our time table for our plan has just been sped up." He told them. "What about Mingyu-ah and them Hyung, are they okay?" Jeongguk asked. "Seungcheol said that no one was hurt, but they're currently packing up shop at their apartment and our trying to work out other living arrangements." He told them. "Can't they just stay here with us though Hyung?" Jimin asked him. Namjoon nodded his head. "I offered them an invitation to, but Seungcheol-ah told me that he had to tie up a few loose ends before he could make any kind of decision about what they were doing." He told him. 

Everyone just sort of looked at him for a moment. He knew that everyone was processing the information that they were just given. And Namjoon understands it was all a lot to be thrown at a person all at once. "Are we endangered right now Joon?" Hoseok asked from the couch. And he didn't miss the way that his same aged friend had tightened his arm around his lover. Or the way that Yoongi had placed both of his hands against his stomach protectively. "I.. I wish that I could tell you that we are okay now." Namjoon told them. "I honestly can't tell you Hoseok-ah, I really can't." Namjoon said. "I'm so sorry." No one said anything after that. And it was just then that it dawned on them all how real this was getting now. And none of them liked it. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

In their flurry of packing Seungcheol was able to get everyone settled down enough to give them the new game plan. He had them place all of their bags placed in a pile near the door. Then he had them all sit down in the living room for a minute. Now was the time to have another family meeting before they could do anything else. He had planned to give them an updated version of what they were going to do, and how they were going to do it. They also had to address how they were going to scatter and to where. Plus, they still had to know what they were going to do with Dongjin, Doyoon, and Samuel. MingMing gets his own category though with all of the stuff that they've been through in this past little bit. In conclusion they had a lot to cover and very little time to do so. Even though Seungcheol didn't think that whoever was after them was going to send someone back to their place, he wasn't going to take any chances with his family's safety. This was probably purely an intimidation tactic, but he wouldn't put it past them to try something bigger though. They had to get out of here before something else happened to them. 

“What’s up chief?” Soonyoung asked as they all gathered in a circle around their leader. Seungcheol couldn’t help but give a little smile at the younger. Soonyoung always knew how to cheer him up. “It’s time to go over the game plan.” Seungcheol said as he addressed the room. “Now I know we already went over this before, some more than others, but we’ve had to make a few changes to it, due to recent events that have transpired.” Seungcheol told them. Everyone just nodded their heads at him in understanding. Seungcheol took that as his cue to get on with it and change topics. “Well, since our apartment now has been compromised we have to find new accommodations for us.” He told them. “Over the years we’ve stocked up on a number of different safe houses.” He told them. “And since we still have a couple of loose ends to tie up, that's where we'll be staying for the time being.” He explained. 

“ Okay how are we going to split ourselves up then Cheol?” Joshua asked. Even though he knew that it was for the best he didn’t like it. He didn’t like the fact that he would have to go without having some of the other members in his sight line. Call him a control freak however you like but it makes him uneasy when the people that he loves aren’t in his sights. But it was for the good and safety of their group and its members so he was going to suck it up. “Well, that’s the thing, we aren’t exactly sure who’s going with who yet.” Seungcheol explained. “All that we got so far is that we’re dividing up into threes,” He told them. “So each group will be headed by either me, Soonyoung, or Jihoon, and then we need a medic with each team just in case.” Seungcheol told them. “So all that we have to do is to decide that and then it’ll be easier to figure out who goes with who.” Everyone agreed with that. “So who goes with who?” He asked them. 

“I’ll go with Soonyoung-Hyung.” Seungkwan said. Soonyoung nodded his head and motioned for the younger to come stand beside of him. Seungcheol nodded his head in understanding and wrote their names down on the list. “Do you want to go with Seungcheol-Hyung, Shua-Hyung?” Seokmin asked the elder. He knew that he was fine going with either, but he didn’t want to separate the three eldest if he didn’t have to. “I don’t know.” Joshua said. “I would like to, but do you think it’s smart for me?” He asked. “If I go, you know that Jeonghan and Chan are going to want to come too.” He told him. “If these guys are trying to mess with us and get in our head, and there’s the possibility that they are going after the people that we love, wouldn’t it be more of a bad idea for us to go together?” He questioned. Seungcheol paused for a moment and thought about it. Joshua did make a good point about this, but he wasn’t going to force either him or Jeonghan to do anything that they didn’t want to. He looked over at Jeonghan and he saw that he was thinking the same thing as him. “You do make a good point Shua, but I’m not going to force you, or Hannie, or Channie to do anything that you don’t want to.” Seungcheol said. “If you want to come with me fine. We’ll make it work, and if you don’t then we can make that work as well.” He told them. “It’s up to you guys.” He said. “But I do have to admit that I would like one of us to be with Jeonghan.” He said. Jeonghan looked at him and opened his mouth no doubt getting ready to start yelling at him again. “And don’t get started on me Jeonghan. I know that you are fully capable of handling yourself but you practically spent all night throwing up.” He said. “You’re sick Hannie, and I know that I’m probably overreacting but I don’t want to leave you alone without one of us.” He told him. “Not that I don’t trust the others, I just feel more comfortable that you have one of us with you in case something happens.” And no one could blame him for that. Joshua and Jeonghan just looked at each other. And they knew what they were going to do after that. 

Later on it was decided that Seungcheol would go to one location with Seokmin, Wonwoo, and Chan, and Soonyoung with Seungkwan Hansol, and Minghao and Jihoon with Jeonghan, Joshua, Mingyu, and Jun. They each were given directions to the different safehouses that they were to go to. And each group was given a task to complete. Once they completed it, they are to call Seungcheol and then they are to schedule a meet up with all 13 of them to figure out what to do next. Once all of that was decided they were off to finish packing and to get the Hell out of there. Though Seungcheol could only hope that they were able to get themselves out with enough time to stop this. He had no idea what they were going to do if they couldn't pull this off. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Jeonghan was sitting on the bed finishing packing up the last of the stuff in the 95’s room. Seungcheol was out helping the others finish loading the cars, and Joshua was with Seungkwan and Seokmin packing all of their medical supplies. And that just left the ill carrier alone in the room. He was busy packing when he heard a knock on the bedroom door. It startled him a little bit at the noise, but he didn’t let that get to him. He turned to the door and shouted for whoever it was to come in. In all honesty, he wasn’t that surprised to find their youngest coming in. He knew that even though he wasn’t going to openly admit it that Chan was scared. Besides the fact that they have an unidentified group of crooks after them, wanting who the hell knows what with them. This was also the first time in a long time that the maknae would be separated from the majority of the group. And truth be told, Jeonghan wasn’t too keen about this idea either. But it is for the good of the group and he takes some comfort in the fact that Chan still had Seungcheol with him. Even though it was slightly dangerous, he was glad that the two brothers were still together. No one wanted to break the two of them up after what all of them have been through together. 

“What’s up aegi?” Jeonghan asked as Chan came into the room. Even though he couldn’t really see his face, the elder could tell that the younger scrunched up his nose at him. He’s always hated being called a baby, but Jeonghan didn’t care. He practically raised Chan himself even before he joined the group properly. He’s the closest thing that he has to a little sibling at the moment. Since he couldn’t physically go and see his sister Hana, he sort of used his boyfriend’s baby brother as a surrogate. But Jeonghan didn’t really care now he still loved the kid all the same. “You’re supposed to be packing.” He told the younger one. “I know Hyung.” Chan said softly. “But I wanted to come see you before we left.” He told him. Jeonghan looked up at that. He watched as the younger fidgeted in front of him, before deciding to sit down next to him on the bed. 

Jeonghan paused in his movements and turned his attention back to the maknae. “What’s going on Dino?” Jeonghan asked softly. He scooted over on the bed to get closer to the younger and wrapped an arm around him. “Come on Chan-ah you know that you can tell Hyung anything right?”He whispered softly to him. The younger just nodded his head at him. “I know Hyung.” He said softly. “I.. I.. I just..” He trailed off. It took a few minutes before he spoke again. “I’m scared Hyung.” Chan admitted. Jeonghan just hummed and pulled the younger closer to him. “I know aegi, I know.” Jeonghan told him. “But you don’t have to worry about it now okay?” Jeonghan told him. “Cheollie has a plan and it’s going to work and then these guys can never hurt us or anyone else ever again.” He told him. “How can you be so sure?” Chan asked him. “Because I trust your brother with my life, and I know that he’s going to fix this or die trying to.” Jeonghan told him. “Your brother loves me, Shua, and the rest of the members.” He told the younger one. “But most of all, he loves you Chan.” He said. “And he would do whatever it took to make sure that nothing bad ever happened to any of us.” He told him. “I know that.” Chan said. “But I still can’t help but worry about everyone.” He told him. “I know, I’m worried too.” Jeonghan admitted to him. 

“I never thought that anything like this would happen.” Chan confessed to him. “I know that what we’re doing is considered very illegal, but we’re still helping people.” He told him. “What these guys are doing to us, what they want with us, that’s not helping people Hyung.” He told him. “I just don’t understand this.” He told him. “How can people be so cruel?” He asked him. Jeonghan just sighed and brushed back some of the younger’s hair. “I wish I could give you an answer Channie, I really do but I can’t.” Jeonghan told him. “I don’t know why people do the things that they do sometimes, especially the evil ones.” He told him. “I ask myself that question everyday when we go on jobs, and see the victims of these scumbags that we take down, or when I think about my stepfather.” He admitted to him. “Hyung, you don’t have to talk about this.” Chan told him. But Jeonghan just waved him off. “ I know, but I want to.” Jeonghan told him. “You need to hear this Channie,” He told him. So the younger one just shut up and listened. 

“For the longest time, I thought that what he did to me was my fault.” Jeonghan admitted. “I just thought that I just did something, or there was something about me that just pissed him off.” He told him. “My mother wasn’t really that aware of what he did to me when I was younger, she knew that there was tension as I got older but she didn’t know.” Jeonghan said. “And I kept it from her, I didn’t think that it was that big of a deal at the time.” He told him. “A lot of kids don’t have such great relationships with their parents, especially step-parents.” He told him. “It wasn’t until I met your brother that I realized that none of it was my fault.” He said. “Seungcheol, and later Joshua made me feel loved, like I haven’t felt in awhile.” He told him. “I didn’t have to pretend to be someone else around them or the rest of you guys.” He told him. “I could be myself comfortably and realized that it wasn’t my fault.” He said. “I guess looking back on it, I just wanted an explanation as to why.” He confessed. “I didn’t want to admit to myself or out loud that the man who had been my father since I was an infant was just plain evil.” Jeonghan said. “He made my mother happy at first, and he gave my Hana, which is the only good thing that the man has ever done.” He said. “What are you getting at here Hyung?” Dino asked him. “The point that I’m getting at here Channie is this.” Jeonghan told him. “Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason why people do things.” He told him. “Sometimes they mean well, others they don’t.” He said. “But the ones that you love will always pull through for you, and that’s how you know that you can always count on them.” He said. 

“Is that how you knew that Seungcheol-Hyung and Joshua-Hyung were the ones?” Chan asked him. Jeonghan just nodded and smiled at him. “Yeah, something like that.” He told him. “Hyung, I have a question for you?” Chan asked him. “Shoot Channie, ask away.” Jeonghan told him. “Why did you stay?” He asked him. Jeonghan looked at him confused for a moment there. “What are you talking about Channie?” Jeonghan asked him. “That fight that you and Hyung had years ago.” Chan said. “About you going to college?” He asked. Jeonghan froze for a moment. He knew exactly what the younger was talking about. When they had graduated high school Jeonghan was offered a scholarship to go to a local university. He could have gotten a degree in anything that he wanted to. But he turned it down. He turned it down because he didn’t want to leave Seungcheol and the group. When the elder had found out he was furious about it. He all but demanded Jeonghan to go back to their principal and tell him that he changed his mind. But Jeonghan wouldn’t do it. He didn’t want to leave them. They fought about it for weeks, and it was actually how he and Seungcheol had gotten together. Seungcheol had asked him why he wouldn’t leave and Jeonghan blurted out that he was in love with him. And they’ve been together ever since. 

“ I stayed because I wanted to.” He told him. “ I love your brother, and the rest of you.” Jeonghan told him. “I didn’t want to leave, I couldn’t make myself leave any of you no matter how hard I tried to.” He told him. “I knew that you guys were it for me and I liked helping out people.” Jeonghan told him. “And I know that university probably would have been the better option for me, but I didn’t care, I knew where I belonged, and I wasn’t going to leave.” Jeonghan told him. “ And I don’t regret it one bit.” He said as he hugged the younger tighter to his chest. Chan just buried his face in the elder’s neck. “Everything's going to be alright, right Hyung?” He asked him. Jeonghan just humed. “Everything’s going to be alright aegi I promise.”

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They were all getting ready to leave when they heard a knock at the door. Everyone who was in the living room froze for a moment. No one was expecting any company at the moment. In fact they were trying to avoid everyone until they could get into the cars and out to the safehouses. They didn’t think that it was any of their neighbors since they really weren’t the most friendliest of people to begin with. The only ones in the living room at the time were Mingyu, Wonwoo, Mingao, Vernon, and Seungkwan. All 5 of them just looked at each other, not knowing what to do. It was decided amongst themselves that they had to go answer the door, and they needed to choose one of them. Especially since whoever was on the other end of the door kept knocking. It was somehow decided that Hansol was the one to go answer the door. 

Walking over, Hansol was very careful as he opened the door. While it was very likely that there was someone on the other hand that had intentions to hurt them, they just couldn’t leave them out there. They didn’t want them to try and break into the apartment, nor did they want them to go door to door with their neighbors trying to find them. And in the process someone innocent getting hurt in the process. Seokmin had gone down the hall to get Seungcheol and the rest of the members, while Minghao, Wonwoo, and Mingyu were hiding right behind him in case anything went wrong. So taking one last deep breath, Hansol unlocked the door and opened it. 

Once the door was opened Hansol barely had a moment to get a glance at the man standing before him before all Hell broke loose. One moment he was at the door and the next Mingho had jumped out from his place of hiding. He body slammed Hansol out of the way, and he grabbed the stranger by the collar of his shirt and flipped and dragged him into the apartment. He had whoever was at the door pinned in under 60 seconds. Then he started yelling at him in Mandarin, and even though Hansol knew a little bit of it, the elder was speaking it too rapidly for him to be able to follow what was being said. Minghao seemed mad and he put a knee on the other’s chest before trying to punch him in the face. Hansol was able to keep his wits about him somewhat and closed the door before someone outside could see what was going on. 

Lucky for Vernon he didn’t have to worry about having to try and stop his Hyung from killing the poor guy that he had pinned underneath him. Mingyu and Wonwoo had stepped in and were trying to pull the two on the ground apart from one another. And Seokmin was able to round everyone up and they all rushed into the living room to see what was going on. Seungcheol, Soonyoung, and Chan stepped into the fray and were able to separate the two of them. Mingyu and Seungcheol had a hold of Minghao who was fighting, spitting and cursing at them in multiple languages. While the other dude was pinned on the floor by Chan, Wonwoo, and Soonyoung. Now that everyone could get a better look at their visitor’s face one collective gasp was heard. No one dared say a word. And Hansol was very confused about what was going on here. 

“Um, not to sound dumb or anything here.” Hansol said as he walked over into the living room. He had gone and closed and locked the door behind him before he could do anything. So no one could see anything in their apartment, and whoever their guest was would have a harder time trying to make a break for it. “But who the Hell is that, and what the Hell is going on?” He asked. He said to everyone hoping that someone, anyone could give him a straight answer. He was more than a little lost here, and since everyone seemed to know about this guy, he assumes that this has something to do with an event that happened before he joined them. Sometimes it sucked being one of the last members to join. He wanted answers and he wanted them now, so sue him. 

For what felt like the longest time no one said anything. Looking at the group of his Hyungs huddled together on the other side of the room, he saw their reactions. All of them were pale and bewildered at the scene before them. Seungkwan and Seokmin seemed just about as confused as he was if not more, since they were the last to join. Jeonghan looked like he was going to be sick again, and that Joshua even though he seemed pretty shaken up too was the only thing keeping him upright. Jihoon looked pissed beyond belief and even though Jihoon isn’t the most happy go lucky guy that Hansol’s ever met, he still hasn’t seen him this made before, ever. And Jun looked like he had seen a ghost and was mere seconds away from passing out on them. Lucky for them that Seokmin and Seungkwan were on either side of him holding him up, and Jihoon was standing in front of him, almost like a human shield. Even though Jun seemed to be in the worst shape out of all of them he was the one to answer Hansol’s question. “MingMing?” And that was when Hansol felt like the rug had been pulled out from underneath his feet. MingMing? The hell?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, did you see that ending coming?


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot progresses, we have some whump, family feels, and a lot of people who need a vacation after this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I know another update only 2 days after the last one! Don't be too shocked. Like I said I have no clue when I'm updating so when it's done I post it. Anyway I plan to have the next part out sometime next week, but don't hold me to it. Anyway Happy Friday People, have a nice day, and stay safe out there!   
> -N.

Chapter 23

_Previously on SEVENTEEN..................._

_For what felt like the longest time no one said anything. Looking at the group of his Hyungs huddled together on the other side of the room, he saw their reactions. All of them were pale and bewildered at the scene before them. Seungkwan and Seokmin seemed just about as confused as he was if not more, since they were the last to join. Jeonghan looked like he was going to be sick again, and that Joshua even though he seemed pretty shaken up too was the only thing keeping him upright. Jihoon looked pissed beyond belief and even though Jihoon isn't the most happy go lucky guy that Hansol's ever met, he still hasn't seen him this made before, ever. And Jun looked like he had seen a ghost and was mere seconds away from passing out on them. Lucky for them that Seokmin and Seungkwan were on either side of him holding him up, and Jihoon was standing in front of him, almost like a human shield. Even though Jun seemed to be in the worst shape out of all of them he was the one to answer Hansol's question. "MingMing?" And that was when Hansol felt like the rug had been pulled out from underneath his feet. MingMing? The hell?_

"MingMing?"Hansol asked. "You mean the one that left years ago and just up and vanished?" He asked. "The one that joined the wrong side and is the one who sent these goons after us inadvertently?" He questioned. :The one who betrayed us and shot Jun-Hyung and almost killed him?" He said. Everyone paused for a couple of moments before they said anything else. "Yes." Jeonghan said breathlessly. "Yes, this is him." He said. And that sort of blew Hansol away. MingMing had joined when they had convinced Jun to join them. The two of them were like a package deal with one another. Where one went the other one followed. Though all of this had happened way before Hansol, Seungkwan, or Seokmin joined the group. He did a lot of jobs with them, and then one night he just left. When everyone else woke up that morning he was gone, and Jun was heartbroken. Hansol joined the group barely a month after that. So he never knew what he looked like,he only heard a few stories about him here and there. But those were very few and far between, until they stopped altogether after a while. 

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Minghao shouted as he struggled in Seungcheol and Mingyu's hold. It was easy to see that even though the two of them were the strongest in the group that they were having trouble keeping the younger from lashing out and trying to kill their surprise visitor. Wonwoo, Chan, and Soonyoung had an easier time keeping a grip on MingMing since the other male didn't seem to be putting up a fight. And now that Hansol could get a better look at his face he could tell why. He looked horrible in his opinion. His face was littered with cuts and bruises. He even had a huge black eye, and a split lip that was still bleeding a little bit. And it wouldn't surprise Hansol any if the elder had more injuries that they just couldn't see at the moment because of his clothes. Now the only question is why did this happen? Why did he come here to them? 

It took them about 5 more minutes or so to get Minghao calmed down enough for them to set him down and not worry about him killing anyone. So Seungcheol moved him to the couch and made Mingyu sit on him until further notice. Minghao wasn't the happiest about it, but he didn't fight back this time so they took it as a good sign. Though Hansol could still see the murderous rage and intent in his eyes. Seungcheol signaled him to go get a chair out of the kitchen to put MingMing in. The younger hurriedly ran into the kitchen and grabbed the nearest chair that he could find. He brought it back out into the living room and gave it to the elder. Seungcheol took it from him with a nod of thanks. He then instructed them to put MingMing in it. And Seungkwan ran back into the room with some electrical chords, and rope. He must have been sent to get something to tie the intruder up with. What a way to start off a morning huh? 

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"Okay, we're going to lay a bit of ground rules down here before we start anything." Seungcheol told MingMing once they finished tying him up. They had put MingMing in a chair in the center of the room, while everyone else found a seat and gathered around. Even though they all wanted to rip into the ex-member a bit on their own, they knew that they needed him alive to answer questions for them first. MingMing didn't say anything, just nodded his head at the elder. And Seungcheol took that as his que to keep on talking. "Okay first of all, you don't talk." Seungcheol told him. "You don't talk unless you're spoken to understand?" He asked him. MingMing nodded his head. "I said you don't talk unless you're spoken to, and I just spoke to you." Seungcheol repeated himself. "Do you understand me?" He asked him. "Yes.. Yes I understand." MingMing rasped out. If you couldn't tell by the way that he looked his voice was a dead give away to the fact that he had gotten the crap beat out of him. Hansol doesn't know if it's just him or not but he is kind of curious as to how he got so beat up. But he knew better than to interrupt Seungcheol when the elder was pissed and on a roll. 

"Second, you don't move unless told to got it." Seungcheol told him. "Someone is going to be with you at all times to make sure that you don't try to escape." He told him. "You don't move, you don't flinch, you don't even breathe unless one of us gives you permission got it?" He asked him. "Yes, I understand." MingMing told him in the same raspy voice. Seungcheol deemed that an acceptable answer and moved down his list of things. "Third, you don't try to escape, or hurt anyone here." Seungcheol told him. "You've already hurt Junnie MingMing, and if I ever get wind of you trying to hurt him again or anyone else here your ass is mine got it." Seungcheol bit out. "We may have been friends once Ming, but that was a long time ago now, and things have changed." He told him. "We're not the same people that we used to be, and I swear to God and anything else that is holy in this world that if you try anything on any of them I will kill right here right now where you stand." He told him. It was the angerist and the scariest that any of the members have ever seen Seungcheol. Even though he's their leader and he had to be serious and intimidating, he was never scary, he might look it, but it was just a front for jobs. Seungcheol is one of the sweetest and kindest people that you'll ever meet in your life. He's a big teddy bear, not a killer. Needless to say that the rest of the members were very freaked out by that. 

"Do I make myself clear?" Seungcheol asked him. MingMing looked him dead in the eye and Seungcheol is not going to lie. That dead look in the younger's eye was really unnerving him. Even though he was supposed to be hateful and intimidating to him, he couldn't help but to wonder what happened to the younger to make him turn out like this. He used to be such a sweet kid when he was with them. "Yes, I understand." MingMing told him. "And finally." Seungcheol went on. "You do not, and I repeat you do not lie to me." Seungcheol told him. "You tell me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." He instructed him. "If I find out that you lied to me, then I'm sicking HaoHao on you and I won't stop him from killing you." He told him. "Do we have an understanding here?" He asked him. "Yes, we do." MingMing told him. And Seungcheol had to stop himself from shivering at how dead and gone he already sounded. God, what did they get themselves into this time? 

Standing up from where he was hunched over to talk to MingMing face to face, Seungcheol got a good look at the room. Everyone was just standing there, frozen staring at him. Wonwoo, and Soonyoung who were at his eye level now just looked at him as if he had two heads or something. Chan, who was standing off to the side of Soonyoung, was looking at his brother, and never in all of the years that the younger has been alive has Seungcheol seen him look at him like that. Chan looked like he was scared, and to be more specific like he was scared of him, his own brother. Looking over he made brief eye contact with Hansol and saw that the second youngest looked just as flabbergasted about what was going on as he felt, but he didn't have time to pay it any mind. Looking at the couch, he saw Mingyu and Minghao still. Even though the taller one was sitting on him, Seungcheol could still tell that the youngest thief was a little intimidated by his speech. And he doesn't really blame him, if the roles were reversed Seungcheol would have been scared too. Mingyu looked like Seungcheol just told him that he had ran over his dog, and then backed over it for good measure just to make sure it's dead. 

Turning his head to the other side of the room, Seungcheol was met with a similar reaction. Poor Seokmin looked like he was close to tears, and he wasn't really surprised about it. Seokmin wasn't really one for confrontation. Or to be more specific he didn't like it when people argued, especially when it got loud, violent and/or physical. Seokmin was one of the sweetest people that he has ever met in his life, and he knew that there was a reason that the younger went into medicine, he wanted to help people, not hurt them. This was probably going against his nature as they spoke. Seungkwan looked a little unsettled at the conversation, but he really didn't seem to be visibly upset or anything. Even though Seungkwan was known for being a little bit dramatic at times, the younger was good at hiding his true emotions and feelings when he wanted to. Jun, himself looked like a wreck. Seungcheol could see the tears pooling and spilling out of his eyes, and he was shaking. He knows that without a doubt that if Seungkwan, Seokmin, and Jihoon weren't holding him up he would be on the ground at this moment in a full blown panic attack. Speaking of Jihoon, he really didn't show that much of a reaction. And Seungcheol really didn't expect him to. Jihoon has always been good at hiding his emotions, the only one who can rival him is Jeonghan. And it also probably helps that he's one of the ones who is the angriest at MingMing at the moment. 

Finally, looking at his lovers, really unsettled Seungcheol the most. Both of them had twin looks of horror on their faces. Even though they have been together for years, and have seen each other at all different high and low points of their lives, they've never seen Seungcheol angry. Out of the three of them Jeonghan was the hothead, he was the easiest to rile up and get angry. Joshua even though he had a worse temper than everyone else in the group, it took a lot to make the youngest 95-liner mad. His breaking point was the highest that Seungcheol has ever seen. And Seungcheol has only ever seen the younger that mad once, and even then, Joshua admitted that it wasn't the angriest that he has ever been. Seungcheol himself always thought that he was in the middle. He was the calm to their fury, and he was also just as easy to get swept up in their emotions as they were. He doesn't think that he's ever been this upset before, this mad. But he had to do it, he had to do it to keep the ones that he loved, his family safe. Though looking at Joshua and seeing how he looked at Seungcheol like he was a complete stranger, and Jeonghan who looked like he was going to be sick and that Joshua was the only thing holding him up, he realized something. He realized that he was changed by all of this shit more than he cared to admit. And he wants all of this to be over with already. God, how did they get into this again? 

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Once the ground rules were set, and everyone was back to themselves after Seungcheol's little rant, things got back on track. They still needed to interrogate MingMing to figure out what the hell was going on, and how they were supposed to stop it. They still needed to know what Kim Se-Jung was up to, and what he wanted with them. For the most part they were still in the dark about what his true inventions are. Even though they have collected countless pieces of evidence of all of the illegal activity that he and his associates have been up to. But they still have no idea what exactly his big end game plane was though. And they needed to know that, if they are to stand any chance of taking him down. And they needed MingMing to do that. 

"So what are we even up against?" Seungcheol asked MingMing. He himself had pulled up a chair right in front of the younger, while everyone else had found some place to sit in the living room. No one wanted to miss out on a bit of information on what was going on. "Nothing that you have ever seen before." MingMing told them. "Kim is one of the most lethal and ruthless people that I have ever had the displeasure of meeting in my life." He said. "And that's saying something coming from me." "What do you mean?" Seungkwan asked from his place in the back. He had pulled up one of the few remaining kitchen chairs and was sitting right next to Jun, who was in one of the other ones. It still looked like Seungkwan and Jihoon who was practically sitting in the Chinese's lap were the only things keeping him up right and with them. Then you had Minghao on the couch with Mingyu still setting on top of him, with Jeonghan and Joshua right next to them. You had Seokmin sitting on one arm of the couch, with Chan on the other. Hansol and Soonyoung were sitting on the floor. And Wonwoo took to sitting on their coffee table to be right next to Seungcheol in case MingMing tried anything. It looked like a really bizarre picture to any outsiders. 

"I mean Kim is soulless." MingMing said. "Heartless, cold, the devil incarnate, whatever synonym that you want to use for pure evil with work there." He said. "He will do whatever it takes to get to the top and reach his goal, and he doesn't care who or what he has to do to get there." He told them. "He's worse than half the people that used to tortue us at "The Agency''." He told him. "If he's so bad then why did you agree to work with him in the first place?" Minghao piped up from his place under Mingyu. You could tell that he was still displeased about this situation, but at least he was probably too curious to kill him at this point. Probably. "I bounced around a lot after I left you guys." MingMing admitted. "Did the sporadic job here and there." He said. "Then one day one of Kim's goons comes up to me and says that their boss was impressed with my skills and wanted to offer me a job." He told them. "I didn't really trust them, but I also needed the money so I eventually gave in and went with them." MingMing said. "That was my first mistake." He paused for a couple of moments before he went on and said anything else. "To put it bluntly, I was young and naive and I thought that this would just be another one and done situation kind of job." He admitted to them. "It wasn't until a couple of weeks later when the job was done that I understood what I was getting myself into." He told them. "I realized too late what kind of monster Kim was and by that time he had his teeth sunk into me too deep for me to get out." MingMing told them. "And I've been with him ever since." 

"Next question, what does he want with us?" Joshua surprisingly asked this time. Normally Joshua keeps to the back of conversations like these. He puts in his two cents when he feels like and all of the other members encourage him to speak up and voice his mind and all of that But Joshua prefers to stay out of it, he liked taking care of them, and his job was to patch them up and keep them well. There was just something about planning these jobs that gave him a huge spike of anxiety, so he stays out of it. He acts as a sounding board for some of their ideas, but he prefers just to let Seungcheol, Soonyoung, Jihoon, and Jeonghan handle any planning. But this time it was different, these people were going straight after them, after his family, he wanted in on this. "It's simple really when you get down to it." MingMing told them. "Kim is a bad guy who scams, and hurts people." He told them. "You guys, even though you aren't cops, take down people like him and hand them over to the proper authorities." He told them. "And you guys have made quite the reputation for yourselves in doing that." He said. "Kim knew that you guys would eventually get wind of him and come to take him out." He told them. "To prevent that, he came up with the brilliant idea of taking you guys under his payroll." MingMing siad. "You guys can't take him down if he controls you." 

"Wait a minute, he wants us to work for him?" Soonyoung questioned him. "Yes, he wants you guys for jobs like he gives me to do." MingMing said. "But how was he expecting to get us to work for him?"Mingyu asked. "I mean like you said MingMing we made ourselves a good reputation doing what we do, and not to sound cocky here, we are good at what we do." He said. "How does he know that we just can't take him down instead and turn him over? We already have a lot of evidence against him thanks to hacking into Wonwoo-Hyung's parent's files." He said. "Sorry Hyung." Mingyu added quickly. "It's fine Gyu." He told him. "And besides even if he got to us, there are still other groups out there like us that are still a threat, like Bangtan, NU'EST, GOT7, Stray Kids, etc." He told him. MingMing just shrugged his shoulders at him. "I don't know what to tell you Gyu, all that I know is that the big target is painted on your guy's backs." He told him. Well that made them all feel loads better. 

"Well what was he planning on doing to even get us then?" Jeonghan asked. Seungcheol at this point had given up at being the sole interrogator. All of the other members were worried and they had the right to be. If they wanted to ask questions, he wasn't going to stop them from it. "Is he trying to intimidate us, threaten us?" He asked. "Do they have some sort of leverage over us? Are they going after our families?" He asked. MingMing pursed his lips at that. "I don't know what to tell you Jeonghan-ssi." He told him. "I really, really don't." He said. "Kim was trying to come up with different tactics and strategies that he could use on you guys." He told them. "Last time he said anything to me about it, he never made up his mind on what he wanted to do." He said. "Though that could have changed by now, I don't know." He said. 

"Well what do we do then?" Jihoon piped up. "You say you know he's dangerous but yet you can't tell us what he's going to do?" He asked. And it was very easy to determine that the shorter one was very pissed at him. "I don't know what to tell you Jihoon-ssi, he told me a lot of his plans, but at the same time he didn't." MingMing told him. "I guess he didn't fully trust me, that he was afraid I would defect and come help you guys and tell you everything." He told him. "Which is what I ended up doing, so I guess he was right." That got the elder to shut up. "Even though you don't have a solid idea of what to do MingMing, can you at least tell us what he's most likely going to try?" Seungcheol asked him. MingMing took a few moments to ponder his response before he said anything. "Even though I know that you're not going to like this answer, Seungcheol-ssi, I honestly think that anything is possible." MingMing told him. "If I were you guys, I get the Hell out of here, and try your best to warn any friends and family that you're close to, to get out of town, or be wary and lay low for the next little bit or unless you tell them to." MingMing said. "Kim is capable of anything and everything so it's better to be safe than sorry." He told them. 

Great, just great, Seungcheol thought with a sigh. He really has no idea what's going on, and there's a good possibility that there are a lot of people in danger right now because of them. It was frustrating and yet satisfying at the same time. They knew what Kim was up to and yet at the same time they didn't. At least they weren't as clueless as they used to be about all of this now. God, he just wanted all of this to be over with now. Kim has gone too far now with this, if it's the last thing that Seungcheol ever does, he is going to stop this man once and for all. "There is one more thing that we should be concerned about though." MingMing said. And Seungcheol wasn't even going to get mad at the younger for breaking the first rule here. "What is it?" He asked the younger. "I don't think that I was supposed to hear this bit, it was one of the things that Kim tried to keep hidden from me." MingMing told him. "But I caught some of his goons talking about some people that Kim wanted tracked down for as an insurance policy." He told them. "I waited until they were gone and was able to get into their files on the computer they left unlocked." He said. "They were trying to find Doyoon-Hyung, Dongjinnie, and Sammy." He told them. 

The whole room froze at that comment. They were going after their former members? Of course, it would make sense since even though they weren't with the team anymore, they still cared deeply about them. Doyoon, Dongjin, and Samuel were with them in the beginning of the group, before they really started doing what they did now. And Hansol, Seungkwan, Seokmin, and Minghao had no idea who these people were. And Jun and MingMing were only here for the tail end of Dongjin and Sammy. But Kim knew regardless that they didn't want anything to happen to their friends. "What?" Jeonghan asked. "But that's horrible!" He said. "Doyoon got out because his grandmother was sick, and Dongjin and Sammy are just kids." He told him. "They got out so that they could have a life, they didn't do anything to warrant this." He said. "I know that Jeonghan-ssi, but Kim doesn't care." MingMing told him. "Kim knows that they all mean something to you guys, along with each other and your families, if he can use them against you to get what he wants then he will." MingMing told him. Seungcheol paused for a moment to think about this. They needed to make sure that the others were safe but first they had to track him down. "Jihoon." He said as he turned to their hacker. The younger lifted the head at the call of his name. "Pull up your files, it's time to go on an Easter egg hunt." He told him. It was a good thing that he made Jihoon track down all of their former members and keep tabs on them. And Soonyoung told him that he was too paranoid about all of this. 

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After MingMing's interrogation, they finished packing and split up. Seungcheol gave them all a list of things to do and where the safehouses that they needed to go to were..They were also told to call any friends or family members that they were close to to be cautious and to lay low. And Jihoon was working on a few sweepstakes trips for some of them to take to get them away as fast as possible. He also assigned each group a former member to track down and convince to come with them. Soonyoung's group along with being tasked to take MingMing with them had to track down Dongjin. Jihoon had to track down Sammy and make sure that he was okay. And Seungcheol had to track down Doyoon. They were told to keep radio silence with each other's groups until they completed everything on their lists and found their assigned people. Then Seungcheol would contact them with further directions on what to do. With that they all took their belongings at the door and ran down the stairs. They scrambled into the cars and took off away from the apartment building. 

It only took 15 minutes to do everything, but Seungcheol still feels like it took them hours to get everything done. He was exhausted, but they had to keep going to try and get ahead of these guys. He was going to be damned before he let them all be just sitting ducks for Kim to come and pick them off one by one. He wanted to be proactive, not dead. Now, the only thing that they had to do was to get their lists of things done. It was a good thing that he let Chan come with him in his group. Since his little brother was the only other one in the group besides himself with a driver's license in the car, he could drive. He made Chan drive while he sat in the passenger seat and got busy tackling stuff on their to-do list. And Wonwoo and Seokmin were in the back helping out where they could. 

Even though he was stressed out to the max at this point and he could feel his blood pressure rising to dangerous levels at this point, he had to stay focused. He needed to get his head in the game and not let his stress or emotions get the better of him. His team needed him, his family needed him to be fully with it. For as soon as Kim notices that Seungcheol is rattled or that he's off it's game over for them. In their line of work things can get really cut-throat, literally. It's either killed or be killed. And Seungcheol would rather willingly jump into the lowest parts of Hell with the devil himself than let his family be killed. He almost lost his family once before and he wasn't going to let the same thing happen to this one. Even if it's the last thing that he does. As Chan drove away from their apartment building in the opposite directions of Mingyu, and Minghao's cars, he couldn't help but wonder if this was the last time that any of them would be here ever again. He hoped not, but you never know what could happen, especially in their line of work. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Part of Seungcheol's job was to make phone calls. He had already given his brother the directions to the safe house that their group was supposed to go to. So it was just the four of them in the car heading there. Wonwoo was on his laptop trying to find some more dirt on who exactly this Kim guy was. And he was going through the high society and business channels to find out who he is and do a background check. Seokmin was helping with that, and making a list of medical supplies that they might need in the future. Him, Seungkwan, and Joshua were all tasked with doing stuff like that and then they were to compare notes and make one big list of everything that they needed. And he was helping Chan make sure that they weren't being followed on their way to the safehouse. 

With every one occupied for the moment, Seungcheol was finally able to get to work on what he was supposed to be doing. Besides the list of stuff that he gave everyone to do, there was a person that they were supposed to find listed with it to. Besides the fact that Kim could be going after their families, they had 4 ex-members of their group that they had to track down too. They already had MingMing with them so now they just had to track down Doyoon, Dongjin, and Samuel. All three of them had left the team at one point or another in their early days, all for different reasons though. Doyoon, was one of the ones who was with them in the beginning, he was one of Seungcheol's best friends. They were born the same month, and same year. He was one of the only friends that he had after his mom left him and Chan alone. Doyoon was like his impulse control before he met Joshua. He would list Jeonghan, but the younger was very bad about fueling the fire instead of trying to put it out. But Doyoon was able to help him keep his head on straight in their youth. He wasn't too keen on what Seungcheol and the team were getting into in their school days but he went along for it to help and to make sure no one got hurt. Seungcheol knew that he probably wouldn't stick around long, but he didn't know how long it would be. Then one day, his grandmother got ill. Doyoon's grandmother had raised him since birth and she was pretty much all he had. He ended up leaving the group and leaving Seoul in general trying to find some way to keep her alive and get her well. Seungcheol was sad when he left but he understood and didn't hold it against him. 

So he left, and then that was it. The next one to leave was Dongjin. And he was a good kid, he used to live on the street after getting booted from his house. He never would tell Seungcheol what exactly went down, but he had a pretty good suspicion that he told Jeonghan about it. Jeonghan always wound up being everyone's confidant at one point or another so it wouldn't surprise him one bit if he did. But Jeonghan never said a word about. While his lover was pretty much all knowing in their household and knew almost everything that was going on before Seungcheol did or sometimes even before it happened. But if you asked the man to keep a secret for you about something, you'd have an easier time breaking into Fort Knox, in the US than getting Jeonghan to tell you whatever it was. He knew Dongjin needed a place to stay and he took pity on the poor kid since he was very close in age to Chan. Things were going well for a little while, but Seungcheol knew that Dongjin wasn't as happy being there as everyone else was. So he sat the younger down one day and had a chat with him. He asked Dongjin if he was happy here and what was up with him. The younger had confessed that he loved them all, and he liked being there, but he wanted to go to school. And not just any school law school. He said that he was too scared to say anything about it and didn't want to upset anyone. Seungcheol told him that it was alright and if he wanted to go to law school then he should. So he figured out a way to get Dongjin a place of his own staying with an elderly lady that Seungcheol knew from his youth, and got him set up on the right track for law school. And they haven't seen him since. 

And finally we have Samuel. He was the youngest out of all of them. He's even younger than Chan. He was everyone's baby, especially Mingyu and Jeonghan. Though Jeonghan babied everyone, but Mingyu got really close with the kid. Sammy loved being with them, he liked helping people and trying to figure out new ways to screw over the bad guys. But he was just a kid, a really, really little kid. And he didn't know any better, Seungcheol always worried about him, which was part of the reason that he never let Sammy come on any missions. He always made Sammy, Chan and Dongjin when he was there stay behind. Dongjin didn't really care, one way or the other if he went, but Chan and Sammy hated it. One day Sammy got fed up with his rules and snuck off to do a job on his own. It was a small time criminal trying to rip off the elderly in the neighborhood that they were living in. Sammy took him down by himself and luckily didn't get hurt, but Seungcheol was still livid. The two of them ended up getting into a huge fight about it and Sammy left then and there that night and they never saw him again. He had Jihoon track him down and check up on Sammy, along with the others from time to time to make sure they were alright, but they could never find MingMing, guess they now know why. 

Anyway, Seungcheol shook his head to get himself out of his thoughts. He turned his attention back to the cellphone in his hand. It had a number displayed across it that Jihoon found for him. He waited a couple of beats, pondering on what he should do. He knew that he had to do this, people could die if he didn't but that still didn't get rid of the anxiety he felt about doing this. Deciding just to bite the bullet and do it he pressed call and put the phone up to his ear. "Hello." He said. "This is Choi Seungcheol, I don't know if you remember me or not.."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Namjoon is not going to lie to you. Ever since he had last talked to the leader of SEVENTEEN he had been worried. It was always a little unnerving to hear that someone's home was broken into and leave creepy notes laying around. Even though Bangtan and TXT have a good security system that gets beefed up every couple of months on the dot, it still is worrying. It still could have just as easily been them or Soobin and the kids to walk into something like that. He was thankful that it wasn't any of them, but he still felt awful for Seungcheol. So he had been waiting around his phone for the past couple of hours for the younger man to call him back with a more concrete plan on what they were going to do. But at least he wasn't alone. Everyone had gone off to do their own thing within the apartment to pass the time and get ready for the probable arrival of their guests, or prepared to leave to a new safehouse for the time being. But Soobin stayed behind with him to wait. Regardless of whether the younger was doing it to make sure that his cousin was okay, or if it was because he was a leader himself and wanted to know of both, Namjoon thought it was sweet. His little cousin has always been a good and sweet kid. If only his parents could see them all now. 

“Are you okay Hyung?” Soobin asked him. The two of them were sitting at their kitchen table right across from one another and were just waiting. For what they really weren’t sure at this point, but they knew that whatever it was it was big.”I’m perfectly fine, thank you for asking me Binnie.” Namjoon told him. “Aiesh, you’re such a sweet kid.” He told him. Soobin blushed and rolled his eyes at his older cousin. “Hyung, cut it out.” Soobin told him. Namjoon just smiled at him. “Now I think I get why Yeonjun-ah and you go so well together.” He told him, in a teasing manner. Soobin just scowled at him, turning even redder. “Hyung, quit it.” He told him. “Speaking of Yeonjun-ah, where is he? I thought that the two of you have become quite attached at the hip lately.” Namjoon told him. “I told Hyung to go to bed.” Soobin said. “I wanted to wait up with you, and I knew that he needed the sleep more than he did the worrying with us.” He told him. “Is he not sleeping again?” Namjoon asked him, genuinely concerned. When Yeonjun had first gotten here, he had a lot of trouble sleeping. He was kept up at night by nightmares and other demons. Eventually with time, and talking to Hoseok and Jin(Those two could get the sphinx to spill all of its secrets if they tried hard enough.) Yeonjun was able to work through his issues. Though they still occurred from time to time, that didn’t stop anyone’s worry for the younger ones. “I don’t think so.” Soobin said. “It was only last night that I know of, but when I asked the kids, they said that they haven’t noticed anything.” Soobin told him. “And you know that Beongyu would have said something if he saw anything.” He told him. 

“What are you guys doing?” Beomgyu asked as he came walking into the room. He came into the kitchen and moved over to Namjoon’s side of the table. Where he proceeded to put himself in the elder’s lap. Namjoon used to this didn’t even bat an eye at the younger’s antics and just let him do it. Beomgyu liked cuddling and skinship, so he just let him do whatever with him. He’s always been like this with him and Soobin since he was a little kid. “Just waiting.” Soobin told him from across the table. “What are you doing, I thought you vanished with Taehyun and Kai?” Namjoon asked him. Beomgyu just shrugged. “Yeah we went to go help Jin-Hyung and Jimin-Hyung with stuff but we’re done now.” He told him. “And besides I missed you guys!” Beomgyu said as he threw his arms around Namjoon’s neck and hugged him. Namjoon just smiled and hugged the younger back. “Have you guys heard anything yet from SEVENTEEN?” He asked them. Both men shook their heads. “Sorry Gyu.” Soobin told him. “No word yet.” Beomgyu just sagged a bit at that. “Do you think they’re okay Hyung?” Beomgyu asked Namjoon. “I’m sure they’re okay Guy, they just have things to take care of before they contact us again.” He told him. “Don’t worry, I’m worried too, but we just have to be patinced.” He told him. 

“Are we going to be okay?” Beomgyu asked. And his question made both of them pause. “What do you mean Cookie?” Namjoon asked, using the old childhood nickname on the younger, to ease him into this. “I mean, these guys who are after Jeongguk-Hyung’s friends.” Beomgyu said. “What do they want with them, and are they going to come after us when they’re done with them?” He asked him. Namjoon really didn’t know how to answer that. On the one hand he wanted to tell Beomgyu that everything was going to be fine, and on the other he wanted to tell him the truth. And the truth about this matter is that he didn’t know what was going to happen. “I.. I don’t know Hyung.” He told him. “I really want to tell you that everything is going to be okay, Cookie I do, but I have no idea.” Namjoon told him. “But I’ll tell you and Soobinie this much.” He said. “That I will do whatever I can to make sure that you guys are all oaky you hear me?” Namjoon told him. “You guys, all of you are my family and I love you both very much, and I don’t want any harm to come to any of you.” Namjoon said. “I’m not going to let these people hurt us or Mingyu-ah’s group without a fight.” He told them. And he meant it to. 

“Does that make you feel any better Cookie?” Soobin asked. He had gotten up from his seat and walked around the table to the other two. He stood next to his brother and cousin and crouched down to where he was eye-level with them. “Yeah, it does.” Beomgyu said. “Thanks Hyungs.” He said.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Soonyoung sighed to himself as he leaned back into his seat. This really wasn't how he was planning on his morning to go. He has planned on coming back from the mission and crashing face first into his bed and sleeping until late afternoon. Then getting up to deal with all of this crap, well-rested for once. But no the universe had other plans for him. Instead he spent the morning finding threatening cryptic notes from deranged mobsters who wanted to use him and his friends as agents of destruction for his own personal gain. And not only that but the ex-friend/member who they thought had turned against them all showed up on their front door step, bruised and bloody with a warning. What a wonderful way to start a morning. So now he's stuck in a car with said ex-friend/member, Seungkwan, and Minghao on the way to one of the safehouses that Seungcheol had found for them years ago, and trying to accomplish a list of tasks that they had to do before they could meet up with everyone and regroup. And on top of that he had to keep Minghao from killing MingMing while doing this, joy. Why did Seungcheol put him in charge again? 

Regardless of how done he already felt with this thing, he knew that he had to see it through. He had made a promise to himself, and Seungcheol, that he was going to do this. He had to do this or else they were all going to end up dead or something. Which he really didn’t want. He put his hand in his pocket and felt around until he found the wadded up piece of paper that he had stuck in there. Pulling it out he unwrinkled it and started looking at it again. It was his part of the list of things that he needed to get done before they could meet up with Seungcheol. He had to find the safehouse that they were supposed to go to. They had to make sure that it wasn’t compromised, and was still livable. Then he had to get a good look at the security system semantics that Kim used in his companies. He and Minghao were supposed to try and figure out how the systems were set up and try to find any weak spots. Jihoon and Wonwoo were working on background and tech, and finances, while they were trying to see if they could get in the old-fashioned way. Besides that, Seungkwan had to make up a list of medical supplies that they might need in the future. Seungcheol said to get some provisions if they could to take with them. Hansol was in charge of MingMing. He was also in charge of keeping Minghao from killing the other 97-liner. Seungcheol actually told him to keep Minghao from killing anyone, but Soonyoung felt confident that Hansol could handle it. After Minghao listens to the younger a lot more than he does to him anyway. And they have to track down Dongjin while they’re at it too! 

And it’s not that Soonyoung isn’t happy about any of this,.. Well scratch that. There is a lot of stuff here that he’s not happy about in this situation. He’s not happy about the fact that this is happening at all for one. He’s not really too happy with MingMing. He really doesn't like the fact that he has to be Minghao’s babysitter, and keep an eye on him when the best idea would be to separate the younger from the target of his rage. But Seungcheol didn’t want to send him with Jun, Jihoon would really kill him, no questions asked(He may be tiny but he is dangerous.) and no one could stop him. And Seungcheol was stressed enough as it is, so Soonyoung got stuck with him. He is especially angry with Kim for doing all of this shit to them in the first place. But he’s not upset that he's with his dongsaengs, even though they can grate on his nerves from time to time. He’s grateful that so far everyone is okay. He’s actually kind of happy even that he’s seeing Dongjin again. 

Soonyoung always kind of had a soft spot for the kid. He was always really quiet and timid ever since Seungcheol had brought him home with him one day from work. He was a year younger and Chan and the kid needed a place to stay. Seungcheol being who he was opened his heart with wide arms and let the kid in. Dongjin never really was interested in what they did for a living besides their crappy part-time jobs that they had. He liked helping people and he liked that they were helping people, but he seemed a little bit wary of how they were doing it. Though he used to help Joshua a lot when it came to patching them all up again whenever they came home from a job. Dongjin loved and cared about them a lot, that much was true. And they all loved and cared about him too. Soonyoung can even remember the younger following Chan around like a lost puppy at one point, Sammy joining him too. Even though the younger hated being the baby and liked being older, he wasn’t too fond of having two shadows(3 if you count Jeonghan when he felt a mothering mood hit.) following him around everywhere. But they were nice, happy even. He felt sad When Dongjin left but he knew that it had to be. It was on good terms, and the only reason that he wanted to leave was to go to school to help people, so really Soonyoung couldn’t be mad about that. 

Still Soonyoung was pissed that Kim was trying to use the younger as a bargaining chip. The younger just wanted to live his life, go to school, and become a lawyer to help people. He wasn’t bothering or hurting anyone. He didn nothing to deserve this, he never was involved in stuff like this before. Dongjin was a good kid and he didn’t deserve to be dragged into their mess. He just really wished that this stuff was done and over with already. He wanted Kim locked up and in hail so that they could go back to their normal everyday lives. It just wasn’t fair in his opinion. He knew that what they did for a living wasn’t exactly legal, but they were helping people who need it. Didn’t that count for something? Soonyoung just huffed to himself as he sunk back against the car seat. He just decided to tune out for a bit as Minghao drove them down the road, hoping and praying in his head that all of this was going to work out in the end.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Jihoon wanted to band his head into a wall. He really, really wanted to bang his head into a brick wall at the moment. All of this shit being piled on them in such a short amount of time was giving him a headache. He really wanted to spend more time questioning Seungcheol on what the hell his plan was supposed to be but they had to get on the road in case some of Kim's goons came back for them. And now he was on his way to one of their safehouses, to try and get through Seungcheol's honey-do lists of shit and keep everyone together. But at least he had Jun with him, he liked that about this, and that was the only thing. Now he just had to try and pick up anymore dirt about Kim's company and their underground activities all while looking after everyone in his group. Joy. 

And yes, Jihoon knew that he was a little bit of a workaholic, but even he has his own limit on things. But this was a life or death situation at this point so it wasn’t like he got a lot of say in what was going on now. But he just had to keep repeating in his head that this was all for a good cause. This was for his family, the people that he loved, lived and worked with. He would do anything for these people, he didn’t care if they weren’t blood related. He was pissed at these mobsters who were trying to come in and take over their group like they owned the place. It wasn’t fair. He just wanted to lay down and sleep and cuddle with Jun for a week straight at this point. Instead he was crammed into the back of one of their tinier cars with his laptop perched on his lap, flying through Kim’s financial portfolio. He was sitting behind Mingyu who was driving and was hoping that the younger wouldn’t crash the car. Now don’t get him wrong Mingyu was an excellent driver, he’ll give him that. But with the luck that they seem to be having now, it wouldn’t surprise Jihoon in the slightest if they got into a car crash. 

At least he was sitting right next to Jun in the car this time. The slightly older man was busy picking through some files on his phone that Jihoon had sent to him. The Chinese male wanted to be some help to him. Jihoon thought that was sweet of him to do, and thanked him for it. Though he would never admit out loud that he thought that. They had a lot of stuff to comb through and only so much time to do so probably. Besides that they still had a million other things to do on top of that. 

They had to get to the safehouse on the other side of the city, without getting in a car wreck and dying in the process. They had to get somewhat settled into it, and work on the laundry list of things that Seungcheol gave them to. They had to get Joshua to make a list of medical supplies that they might need, for when they meet up. Once they actually get to see each other again he, Seokmin and Seungkwan are supposed to compile a list with everything that they need. They have to go to the grocery store to get some food and other provisions before they meet up. And Jihoon knew that Seungcheol could be a little bit overboard when it came to things like this, and normally he would be mocking their leader for it, but with the luck that they have been having lately, they need all of the help that they can get. Besides that they also have to track down Sammy too. 

It just made Jihoon’s blood boil at Kim for this. Samuel was just a kid, he didn’t deserve to have his life be possibly in danger for something stupid that they did. Sammy got out years ago and he deserved to have a normally, happy life like he deserved. He wasn’t a part of this life anymore, and he deserved to act like a normal kid that he was. Needless to say that Kim would wish he had never met them by the time that they get through with them if Jihoon has anything to say about it. Especially if they sick Jeonghan on him like he wants to. Even though they like to joke about Jeonghan being the ‘mom’ of their group, he really is like another parent to them, him, Seungcheol, and Joshua all are. Though it probably helps that pretty much none of them really had that great of relationships with their parents to begin with, but still his point still stands. Jeonghan loved and cared about them all like they were his own kids. And he loved kids in general, he would make a great parent once he and the other two 95s decide to settle down and have kids. And because of that he is very protective over all of their members, especially the younger ones. So Chan, Dongjin, and Samuel fit into that category. He can only imagine how pissed off the elder is sitting up front. 

Speaking of said elder, Jihoon paused in his work for a couple of minutes to check on the elder. Jeonghan had been sick for in reality who knows how long, but he didn’t start getting physically sick until last night so they’ll go with that. He’s been really off his game for the last couple of weeks at least that he has noticed. And before they left Seungcheol had asked him to help keep an eye on him. It was part of the reason that Joshua was there as well. He wanted the two of them to be together so in case Jeonghan got sick he had one of them with him. Though Jihoon knew that this wasn’t going to be easy. The eldest in the car was stubborn at best and those were on his good days when he was healthy as a horse. Things only got worse for him, and by proxy them when he was sick. He knew that there was no point in trying to keep the elder from participating in what they were doing, but at least he could keep the elder from face planting into the sidewalk while doing it. (Hopefully.) Watching the elder, Jihoon saw how pale his face was in the rearview mirror. His Hyung looked like a wreck, and slightly green. He really hoped that he didn’t have to clean up puke at any point in the car ride. But at least he had Joshua here with them. The eldest med student had a better time getting the ill brunette to listen to him out of anyone in the car. So maybe this was going to work out somewhat in their favor. 

Though the elder looked like a complete and utter wreck up front, he seemed to be holding up fairly well. He saw that Joshua was leaning over from behind him in the back seat and was running his fingers through his lover’s hair. He knew that it was something that he and Seungcheol did to Jeonghan when he was stressed to try and calm him down some. He knew that out of everyone Jeonghan dealt with stress the worse out of all of them. Jihoon theorizes that it probably had something to do with how he grew up in a very stressful home environment, and how that affected how he perceived stress. A lot of times he tries to work through it, but it never goes well and the more he tries it the worse it goes. But at least he didn’t have to worry about MingMing or a pissed off Minghao on top of everything else they were dealing with. That would really make Jihoon really want to tear his hair out during all of this. He really hopes that Seungcheol has a good plan tucked away up his sleeve because Jihoon had no idea what they were going to do now. 

At least part of Jihoon’s job was made easier by Seungcheol’s paranoia. After each member left, Seungcheol made him track them all done, with the exception of MingMing since they couldn’t find him at the time. Now, they know what happened with him at least. And Jihoon has been keeping tabs and surveillance on all of them ever since. Which made it easy for them to track them all down to try and make sure that they were safe. He just hoped that if it was that easy for Jihoon to find them, that it wasn’t that easy or more for Kim and his goons to find them. He really didn’t want anyone else to get hurt during this chaotic mess that was now their lives. He just wanted to get this over with already and go back to their regular day to day lives. If only it were that simple though.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

On the He has always described himself as an ambitious person. He was a go-getter and he never let anything get in his way stop him from achieving his goal. It was something that he had gotten from his mother. He worked his way up from the bottom all the way to the top of the corporate food chain. And now he was the alpha male of all alpha males of the business world. People were scared of him, they feared him. They knew that he was not one to be messed with if they wanted to keep their lives and body parts all in tacked. He was practically untouchable. Well, at least he wanted to be. Kim knew that there was at least one group that was powerful enough to take him down once and for all.other side of Seoul.... 

In a tall skyscraper in one of the nicer parts of town, there sat a man. And that man’s name was one Kim Je-Sung. Some could say that the man had it all and then some. He was a very rich man, a CEO of his own company. He had his claws dipped into everything around the city. Everyone loved him, he was both a hit at parties and with the ladies. If he wanted something he got it immediately. He loved his place of power that he held over people, and relished in the thrilling feeling that he got from it. 

SEVENTEEN the dark knights of the justice world. They have taken down numerous of his corporate rivals for him, making it easy to swoop in and steal their companies as his own. They were the perfect tool, the perfect pawns for him to use to be able to come out as the untouchable kind of the business world. But first he had to get them in his clutches first. Now, Kim wasn’t a stupid man, in fact he was very intelligent and cunning. He knew that if he just asked to join forces then he would be told no. His agenda went against the few morals that the group had. So Kim decided to play hardball. All that he had to go was put them in a corner and let them do all of the work for them. After all in reality they were only still children what could they possibly do to him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Said every Supervillain ever, and then ends up getting defeat by the superhero in the end who is barely able to drive.   
> -N.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys finally track down the missing members. Hopefully before it's too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this took longer to get out than I wanted to. I had things to do this week, and it took me longer to get them done than I thought that it would. Plus it snowed one day and took out the internet so I couldn't write. I don't know when the next one is coming out since My mom has to borrow my computer after I post this to do something for my aunt. I have no idea when I'm getting back so I can't promise anything. Anyway, hope you enjoy, have a nice day and stay safe out there people!   
> -N.

Chapter 24

Last time on SEVENTEEN.... 

Anyway, Seungcheol shook his head to get himself out of his thoughts. He turned his attention back to the cellphone in his hand. It had a number displayed across it that Jihoon found for him. He waited a couple of beats, pondering on what he should do. He knew that he had to do this, people could die if he didn't but that still didn't get rid of the anxiety he felt about doing this. Deciding just to bite the bullet and do it he pressed call and put the phone up to his ear. "Hello." He said. "This is Choi Seungcheol, I don't know if you remember me or not.." Seungcheol said as he trailed off on the phone. He really hoped that this went a lot better than he thought that it would. It has been a while after all. 

"Yah! Choi Seungcheol as I live and breathe!" The voice on the other end of the phone said. "It's been a while hasn't it Cheol?" He asked. Seungcheol just chuckled to himself at that, yeah it has. "Yeah Doyoon-ah it has." He told him. "How have you been, man?" Doyoon just chuckled at him some more. "How have I been?" He asked. "How have you been, it's been years since we last talked to one another." Doyoon said. "How did you even get my number Cheol? It's changed a lot since the last time that we talked." He told him. "You have one guess, but two hints are short, and anger issues." He told him. "Ah, how is our dear Jihoonie then?" He asked him. "He's okay at the moment for the most part, pissed off but what else can you do about it?" He told him. 

"But in all seriousness here, what's wrong?" Doyoon asked him. "What are you talking about Yoon?" Seungcheol asked as he was trying to play dumb. "Can't old friends just look each other up and call each other every once and a while without something being wrong?" He suggested. "They can." Doyoon told him. "But it's been years since Seungcheol, and if I know you as well as I still hope I do, then you're still up in your old business am I correct?" He asked him. Seungcheol couldn't help but to agree with that. "So what if I am?" He said instead. "If you are then I know that part of the reason that you never contacted me before now was to keep me safe." Doyoon told him. "You wanted to give me time to focus on my family and get my life together so you left me alone so you wouldn't hinder it." Doyoon told him. "And the only way that you would ever break that rule of yours and contact me is if something is wrong." He told him. "So to reiterate what I just asked, what's wrong?" Dooyon asked. :And don't lie to me Cheol." He told him. All that Seungcheol could do was sigh on the other end. Damn Doyoon and how well he could still read him. 

"You know me too well Doyoon-ah." Seungcheol told him. "Yes, there's a specific reason that I called you." Seungcheol told him. "We've gotten ourselves into a little bit of a pickle here." He said. "We're still working on the semantics as to why it happened, but we kind of, sort of managed to piss off some very dangerous and powerful people." Seungcheol explained to him. "They're after us, they want us to work for them to scam other people." He told him. "Or take us all out trying to force us to work for them." He told him. "That's awful Cheol, are you guys okay?" Doyoon asked him. "Define your definition of fine?" He asked him. "That's not making me feel any better about this Cheol, exactly how dangerous are these people?" Doyoon asked him. Seungcheol paused for a couple of moments, he knew that if he told Doyoon about everything now then the other was going to freak out. But on the other hand, he was going to find out anyway so it was better just to go ahead and bite the bullet. 

"Do you remember MingMing?" Seungcheol asked him. "He came in with Junnie just right before you and your family left town." He reminded him. Even though Doyoon had dropped out of the group early on, he still stuck around in Seoul for a little while and would come check in on them from time to time before they moved. He left not that long after Jun and MingMing joined. "Yeah, vaguely, why?" He asked him. "Well, MingMing left after almost a year of being with us." He told him. "Junnie stuck around and is still with us, but MingMing vanished off the grid." He told him. "Until a couple of months ago when we went on a job, and encountered him again." Seungcheol told him. "He was working for the people that are after us, and he shot Jun and he almost died." Seungcheol told him. He heard a loud gasp on the other end of the line. 

******************************* 

"Oh my God!" Doyoon exclaimed on the other line. "Is Jun oaky?" Doyoon asked him. "Yes he's fine, Shua was able to save him when we got him to the hospital." He told him. "But that's not why I was calling you." Seungcheol told him. "We just got back from Busan not even 12 hours ago, to find a note from these people." Seungcheol told him. "They broke into our house, and I have no idea what they were doing in there but I know that it was nothing good." He told him. "Anyway I knew that it wasn't safe for any of us to stay there." He told him. "When we were packing there was a knock at the door." He said. "It was MingMing, he had come to warn us about these guys." Seungcheol told him. "He was all beaten up and bloody and that was before Minghao got a hold of him." Doyoon just hummed on the other end. "Did he tell you anything useful that could help you?" He asked. "Yes, he did." Seungcheol told him. "But you're not going to like it." He told him. Doyoon just hummed in response. "Try me Cheol." He said. "MingMing said that the head boss Kim Se-Jung who's after us, wants to get us under his thumbs via any means necessary." He told him. "Ming found this out by accident, but Kim was tracking down our families, friends, acquaintances, and former members of the group." He told him. He heard the other pause on the other line. "Am I in danger Seungcheol?" Doyoon asked him. Seungcheol waited a couple of moments before he said anything. "Yes, Yoon-ah you are." He said. "I'm sorry." 

"Don't be Seungcheol, it's not your fault." Doyoon told him."You didn't know until literally hours ago, and the first thing that you did was track me down." He said. "And besides, it was my decision to help you guys all those years ago, you or anybody else didn't force me into anything." He told him. "I'm still sorry though Doyoon, you know that I would never get you or anyone else involved in something like this on purpose." Seungcheol told him. "I know that Seungcheol and I'm still not mad." He told him. "What do you need me to do?" He asked. Seungcheol just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on from all of the stress. "I know that you don't want to leave your grandmother unattended, but is there possibly a way that you could get someone to stay with her and come with us?" He asked. "I know how much that woman means to you Yoon and I wouldn't ask unless it was serious." He told him. "I can do it Cheol." Doyoon told him. "My grandmother passed away a couple of years ago, so it's just me." He told him. "I'll pack a bag and be ready when you get here." Yoon told him. "Doyoon, I'm so sorry I didn't know." Seungcheol apologized. "It's fine Cheol, she was sick for a long time, and fought it as long as she could. It's alright now." He told him. "Now do you need directions to my house, or does Jihoon already know where I'm at?" He asked. "Would you be mad if I said that I have the directions plugged into the GPS?" He asked. Doyoon just chuckled at the other end of the line. "No, I expect nothing less from our Jihoonie." Doyoon told him. "How much longer are you guys going to be?" He asked. "We're about 30 minutes out." Seungcheol said. "Good, I only need like 20 then." Doyoon said. "I'll see you soon Cheol." "See you soon Yoon." And then the line disconnected. 

"How did it go Hyung?" Chan asked from the driver's seat. "Good, keep driving Channie, Doyoon's going to meet us out front." He told his little brother. "Okay Hyung." He said. Seungcheol then proceeded to go to their group chat that housed all of the members to inform them of the update. He needed everyone in on everything if they were going to pull this off. 

**S.Coups: Just got off the phone with Yoon. He's in, going to meet him now. Working on other stuff as well. How's it going on your guy's end?**

**Woozi: Almost to the safehouse. Just got a lead on some more dirt I think. Haven't decided who's going after Sam with Mingyu yet though. What about you Hosh?**

**Tiger: Working on it. Trying to keep Minghao's attention focused on the road and not put the car in park to go beat MingMing to a pulp. Still trying to decide who's going after Dongjinnie though. But we're close.**

**Hannie: We don't need to decide Woozi . I'm going with Mingyu after Sammy.**

**Shua: Oh no you're not, you are sick, and can barely stand. You are staying put with Jun where it's safe. Tell him Cheol.**

**S.Coups: While Shua does have a point Hannie, I know that regardless of what I say you're just going to do whatever you want anyway. So all that I am going to say is to be careful and don't give Shua an heart attack please.**

**Shua: Cheol! You're supposed to be on my side!**

**Hannie: Thank you Cheollie, love you. <3\. And Joshjussi suck it.**

**Shua: Very mature Jeonghan.**

**Jun: Hyungs please don't fight, you know that we don't like it when you do.**

**DK: I agree with Hyung, please don't fight.**

**Vernon: I hate to break up this sweet moment of fighting, but Hoshi-Hyung can you please turn your attention back to us please, Minghao-Hyung is trying to kill MingMing again. Kwannie and I are trying our best but he's going for the nunchucks.**

**Tiger: Dammit Hao! I'll be back I have an attempted murder to stop. Talk to you guys later.**

**S.Coups: God's speed Hoshi-ah.**

**Wonu: True that.**

**\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**S.Coups: Just got off the phone with Yoon. He's in, going to meet him now. Working on other stuff as well. How's it going on your guy's end?**

**Woozi: Almost to the safehouse. Just got a lead on some more dirt I think. Haven't decided who's going after Sam with Mingyu yet though. What about you Hosh?**

**Tiger: Working on it. Trying to keep Minghao's attention focused on the road and not put the car in park to go beat MingMing to a pulp. Still trying to decide who's going after Dongjinnie though. But we're close.**

**Hannie: We don't need to decide Woozi . I'm going with Mingyu after Sammy.**

**Shua: Oh no you're not, you are sick, and can barely stand. You are staying put with Jun where it's safe. Tell him Cheol.**

**S.Coups: While Shua does have a point Hannie, I know that regardless of what I say you're just going to do whatever you want anyway. So all that I am going to say is to be careful and don't give Shua an heart attack please.**

**Shua: Cheol! You're supposed to be on my side!**

**Hannie: Thank you Cheollie, love you. <3\. And Joshjussi suck it.**

**Shua: Very mature Jeonghan.**

**Jun: Hyungs please don't fight, you know that we don't like it when you do.**

**DK: I agree with Hyung, please don't fight.**

**Vernon: I hate to break up this sweet moment of fighting, but Hoshi-Hyung can you please turn your attention back to us please, Minghao-Hyung is trying to kill MingMing again. Kwannie and I are trying our best but he's going for the nunchucks.**

**Tiger: Dammit Hao! I'll be back I have an attempted murder to stop. Talk to you guys later.**

**S.Coups: God's speed Hoshi-ah.**

**Wonu: True that.**

Meanwhile with Soonyoung and his crew...

He was about ready to bash his skull in. They had gotten to their safehouse not that long after Seungcheol started texting them updates. The safehouse that they ended up in was the backroom of an abandoned arcade about a 30 minute drive west from their apartment. Back in the early days when it was only just Seungcheol, Jihoon, Chan, Soonyoung, Doyoon, and Jeonghan they used to come here all the time after school. At one point they spent more time hanging out there then they did at their own homes, where they should have been doing their homework. Eventually though it had shut down when the owner died and no one wanted to take it over. It's been abandoned ever since, and SEVENTEEN kind of took it over as one of their safehouses and storage units ever since. But that wasn't the problem here though. No, the problem here is that he was gone for not even 3 minutes to check to make sure they were the only ones here when chaos erupted. 

He's not even really sure how it happened to be honest. Hansol just told him that Minghao was trying to kill MingMing again and that they needed help. Even though he really doesn't want Minghao to murder him for the obvious reasons, he can totally get behind his reasoning for why. MingMing, someone who he had never met until now, had come in, and shot Jun. Not only did he shoot the closest thing that Minghao had ever had to a brother, he had betrayed his friends as well. MingMing was here before he was, he left before he got there. He broke Jun's heart not once but twice, and inadvertently ended up selling them out to someone who is currently trying to kill them. Soonyoung can understand the anger. But at the moment MingMing was more valuable to them alive than he was dead. He knows that the younger man knows that, it's just that he's bad at getting caught up in his own emotions and going off the deep end. Soonyoung can totally understand that, he himself is a self-labeled hothead and he's done this thing his whole life. He just has to make sure that no one dies before all of this is over. 

Once he had gotten back into the back room, it was fairly easy to get Minghao to calm down. Vernon and Seungkwan were already in between the two 97-liners. MingMing was trying to back away as far as he could get from the angry Chinese man, and Seungkwan and Vernon were trying to get the other's nunchucks. Which was a whole lot easier than he thought it would be. Even though he was really mad, Minghao still didn't put up that much of a fight since he didn't want to hurt his two dongsaengs in the process. Soonyoung even made Vernon sit on Minghao to make sure that he couldn't get up until Seungkwan and he had checked everyone over. MingMing had no new injuries, and Vernon and Seungkwan were unharmed. Which was a good thing. 

Soonyoung didn’t know how much more of this he could take. Seungcheol better hurry up and get everything done soon. Or else he didn’t know what they were going to do. There is only so long that he can hold The8 off for. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Jihoon was about ready to kill somebody. He really had a newfound respect for Seungcheol and his job. Not that he didn’t respect him beforehand, he did. Seungcheol is one of his best friends, his leader, and one of the nicest and kindest people that he has ever met in his whole entire life. He has mad respect for the man. But he never realized how hard his job as their leader was until he had to be in his shoes. Yes, Jihoon is one of the co-leaders of their team, but Seungcheol still takes on the majority of the responsibility. This is the first time that Jihoon has had to do it solo. And yes, even though he’s technically the second youngest out of this portion of his group, he was the leader. And he’s about ready to tear his hair out! He still hasn't figured out how Seungcheol can do everything that he does without killing someone. Jihoon doesn’t think he’ll be that lucky. 

The safehouse that they were going to was about 30 minutes north of where their apartment currently is. (Jihoon had a feeling that they’re going to be moving after all of this is over.) It used to be a candy store that they all used to frequent in their early days. He can remember coming here with Seungcheol and them in the early days. It was also the first time that he had met Jeonghan at. Seungcheol had invited him to come meet the team since he had managed to pull one over on him and almost got him beaten up by some burly biker dude. (Well it was technically Chan, but he had done it so Seungcheol couldn’t go back on his word.) It closed down not that long after that and has remained vacant ever since. Seungcheol had him draw up some false documents, for their, the arcade that Soonyoung went to and a couple of other places. Now, they probably have the funds to buy both properties. But then, they didn’t, so they did the next best thing and forged them. So technically they are their property, but not in the legal sense. Which makes it the perfect place for them to hide in. Since they aren’t in their names, and they are in the names of one of the old shell-companies that they made up when they were first starting out. 

But that was not the reason that he was upset. He’s upset because of the pressure. He has this laundry list of shit to get done before they can meet up with Seungcheol and try to come up with a new plan with Bangtan. He has to track down Sammy before anyone can get to him and cause harm to the younger. And they have to decide on who’s going to get their old maknae. They already decided that Mingyu should be one of the ones to go. Since Mingyu had practically adopted the younger when he was with them. But Jihoon was not going to let the younger man go alone. Seungcheol would probably kill him if he let him go alone. The hard part was trying to figure out who else was going with them. Jun couldn’t go because he hadn’t been cleared by Joshua or any of the med students yet for active duty. And even though this wasn’t supposed to be anything strenuous or dangerous, they weren’t going to take any chances. Joshua would be a good candidate but he had to stay to take care of Jun and Jeonghan. And Jeonghan would be the best candidate, but he’s currently sick as a dog at the moment. Jihoon himself would go if he had to, but he really has to get all of this done. 

Which finally gets them to his current predicament. Even though the eldest of them was sick as a dog, he was determined to go with Mingyu. He had babied Sammy just as much if not more than Mingyu did when he was with them. And he was just as sad and heartbroken when the younger left and ran away. Jeonghan’s parental instincts were kicking in at the moment and he was going to do whatever it took to make sure that every member of his family was safe. The only problem that the elder has now is one Joshua Hong. The oldest med student was steadfast in not letting one of his lovers leave. Especially when that certain lover was very ill. He didn’t want Jeonghan to get any worse, or for something to happen and Joshua not be there with him. But he had a stubborn lover who was hell-bent on going. And this has been an argument that has been going on for the past 20 minutes since they got set up. Jun and Mingyu were smart and were staying out of everything. Jihoon himself really wanted them to stop fighting. He didn’t want to be in the middle of this either, but they had to get moving. 

Jihoon was debating on how much he was going to get his head bitten off when he heard his phone ping. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled it out. It was a notification from Seungcheol in their main group chat. He clicked on it and opened it. 

**S.Coups: Just got off the phone with Yoon. He's in, going to meet him now. Working on other stuff as well. How's it going on your guy's end?**

**Woozi: Almost to the safehouse. Just got a lead on some more dirt I think. Haven't decided who's going after Sam with Mingyu yet though. What about you Hosh?**

**Tiger: Working on it. Trying to keep Minghao's attention focused on the road and not put the car in park to go beat MingMing to a pulp. Still trying to decide who's going after Dongjinnie though. But we're close.**

Jihoon couldn’t help but to snort a little bit at that. He knows that they aren’t supposed to be threatening MingMing since they still need the younger alive, but he knows that it’s a good thing that he and Minghao weren’t paired on the same thing. Otherwise he wouldn’t stop HaoHao from doing anything. He actually kind of pitties Soonyoung a little bit. Even though both of them have different personalities, both his best friend and the younger thief were hotheads. Though he couldn’t say anything about it either, since he himself is one too, but he’s not on that team so he digresses.

**Hannie: We don't need to decide Woozi . I'm going with Mingyu after Sammy.**

Oh crap, well that’s news to him. Nice of his Hyung to inform everyone else that he was going before he tells him. And he can already imagine how Joshua was going to react to this. It wasn’t going to be a good thing.

**Shua: Oh no you're not, you are sick, and can barely stand. You are staying put with Jun where it's safe. Tell him Cheol.**

And he was right. He really doesn’t know how Seungcheol can get anything done in that relationship. He warned him about going with the only two people in the group that were more stubborn than him. But did he listen and take a good friend’s advice? No.

**S.Coups: While Shua does have a point Hannie, I know that regardless of what I say you're just going to do whatever you want anyway. So all that I am going to say is to be careful and don't give Shua an heart attack please.**

**Shua: Cheol! You're supposed to be on my side!**

**Hannie: Thank you Cheollie, love you. <3\. And Joshjussi suck it.**

Nice one Cheol. You tried being diplomatic and still ended up pissing one of them off. At least when Joshua’s mad he’s more antisocial and avoiding people. Jeonghan is more revenge and an eye for an eye kind of guy. If Seungcheol had pissed him off he really thinks that he would be missing a couple of balls if you catch his drift.

**Shua: Very mature Jeonghan.**

**Jun: Hyungs please don't fight, you know that we don't like it when you do.**

You just gotta love Junnie. Everyone loves Jun and even though he’s not in the maknae line, you can normally get him to pull the puppy-dog eyes with the maknaes and you can get whatever you want against any of the Hyungs, especially Seungcheol.

**DK: I agree with Hyung, please don't fight.**

**Vernon: I hate to break up this sweet moment of fighting, but Hoshi-Hyung can you please turn your attention back to us please, Minghao-Hyung is trying to kill MingMing again. Kwannie and I are trying our best but he's going for the nunchucks.**

**Tiger: Dammit Hao! I'll be back I have an attempted murder to stop. Talk to you guys later.**

Again, he pities his best friend so much. And he really doesn’t want to be in his position instead.

**S.Coups: God's speed Hoshi-ah.**

**Wonu: True that.**

That was one of the most random things that Wonwoo has ever said in his whole life. 

Dropping his phone down on a nearby table. Jihoon turned his attention back to the two scrabbling 95-liners. He really needed to break this fight up before things got worse. They had shit to do today people! Both of them were just standing there staring at each other like it was some kind of standoff between two opposing enemies. “Hyungs.” Jihoon said as he butted into their argument. He really hated doing things like this. Seungcheol really owed him for this one. “If Cheol-Hyung said it was okay then I guess it is.” Jihoon said. That made Joshua brusseled a bit, and Jeonghan just smirked at him. “But,” Jihoon said. “Take it easy Jeonghan-Hyung, we don’t want you to get any worse than you already are.” He said. Jeonghan opened his mouth to argue but Jihoon caught him off. “I know, I know what you’re going to say ‘It’s just stress!’” Jihoon said. “I know that Hyung, but stress can be just as deadly if not more so than a lot of stuff that can kill you.” He said. “Just relax and don’t over exert yourself, let Mingyu and Sammy do any of the heavy lifting, and if there’s any trouble stay out of the way.” Jihoon told him. “Got it?” He asked. Jeonghan deflated a little bit at that, and Joshua was the one smirking this time, but he didn’t think that he would be given any more trouble. “Yes, Jihoonie.” They both said in unison. Good, now they might be able to get more stuff done now. He’s really considering buying Seungcheol all the soju he wants after this is done if this is what he deals with everyday. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

It felt like almost no time at all before they were pulling up in front of Doyoon’s residence. Doyoon’s house was just as he remembered it. It was a small house out on the outskirts of the city. It was a pale blue color that was chipping in various places. He can remember it used to be a lot brighter years ago. But then again it has been years since he or probably anyone else but Doyoon has been there. It used to belong to the other boy’s grandmother. She hated living in the city, and wanted to be on the outskirts of the city. He could only imagine how upset grandma Yoo was that she had to leave her house for treatment. 

Pulling up in the driveway, and watching Chan put the car in park, he saw him. Doyoon hadn’t really changed that much over the years. He had gotten a little bit taller, a little bit broader, and hair a little bit shaggier. But overall he still looked like the same Doyoon that he used to know all of those years ago. It was kind of freaky to think about it now. He didn’t really have a whole lot of time to do a lot before, his little brother was already flinging open the door and rushing out. He was debating on scolding the younger but he thought better of it. Chan loved Doyoon just as much as he did. He was his Hyung, and a good friend to his brother. And even though he was old enough to understand why he was leaving, Seungcheol knew that his younger brother was heartbroken when the elder had to leave. So he just kept his mouth shut and let his little brother have his fun. And then proceed to get out of the car along with Seokmin and Wonwoo. 

“Doyoon-Hyung!” Chan shouted as he launched himself at the elder. Doyoon didn’t even flinch. He just dropped his bags that he had in his hands and opened his arms for the younger. “Chan-ah!” Doyoon shouted as they made contact. The two of them latched onto each other for a couple of moments, just rejoicing in the other’s present. “Oh my god!” Doyoon exclaimed as he hugged the younger. “You’ve gotten so big Channie, I can’t believe it.!” He said. “Last time that I saw you, you were just a little old thing that could barely come up past Jihoonie’s shoulders.” He said. “Better not let Jihoon hear that or he’d kill you Yoon.” Seungcheol said as he walked up to the two men. Seokmin and Wonwoo hung back a little bit. Seungcheol doesn’t blame them though, Doyoon left a long time before either one of them had shown up and joined. So this was their first time meeting the other. 

“Oh, I’m not really that worried about Jihoon-ah.” Doyoon said. “He’s really just a big softy at heart.” He told him. Seungcheol just smiled and chuckled at him. “If you think so.” He told him as he walked over and gave the other a hug when Chan pulled away. “It’s good to see you Cheol.” Doyoon told him. “It’s good to see you too.” The two of them hugged each other for a couple of more seconds before breaking apart themselves. “I forgot to ask this one the phone.” Doyoon told him. “But for the love of God Seungcheol, please tell me that you finally got enough balls to ask Hannie out.” He told him. Seungcheol just laughed at him. “Oh, Hyung did a little bit more than that.” Chan broke in. “Yay, you brat!” Seungcheol said as he swatted at his little brother. Chan was able to get out of the way before his brother could get him. “Yeah, we’re together now, and um.. Yeah, it’s a long story I’ll explain on the way.” Seungcheol told him. Doyoon just nodded. “Are you ready?” He asked him. “As ready as I’ll ever be, it was just me here anyway, no one to miss me.” He told him. Seungcheol just nodded. “Oh, and before I forget, this is Wonwoo.” Seungcheol said, pointing to the tall hacker. “And Seokmin, but we all call Dokyeom, or DK, a long story.” He said pointing to the smiley med student. Doyoon just smiled at him, clearly used to stuff like this. “You haven’t changed a bit.” He said. “And it’s very nice to meet you both.” He told them. Both of the younger men just nodded at him. “Well let’s go then!” Chan said as he hopped back into the driver’s seat. And off they went again. 

**S.Coups: Just got off the phone with Yoon. He's in, going to meet him now. Working on other stuff as well. How's it going on your guy's end?**

**Woozi: Almost to the safehouse. Just got a lead on some more dirt I think. Haven't decided who's going after Sam with Mingyu yet though. What about you Hosh?**

**Tiger: Working on it. Trying to keep Minghao's attention focused on the road and not put the car in park to go beat MingMing to a pulp. Still trying to decide who's going after Dongjinnie though. But we're close.**

**Hannie: We don't need to decide Woozi . I'm going with Mingyu after Sammy.**

**Shua: Oh no you're not, you are sick, and can barely stand. You are staying put with Jun where it's safe. Tell him Cheol.**

**S.Coups: While Shua does have a point Hannie, I know that regardless of what I say you're just going to do whatever you want anyway. So all that I am going to say is to be careful and don't give Shua an heart attack please.**

**Shua: Cheol! You're supposed to be on my side!**

**Hannie: Thank you Cheollie, love you. <3\. And Joshjussi suck it.**

**Shua: Very mature Jeonghan.**

**Jun: Hyungs please don't fight, you know that we don't like it when you do.**

**DK: I agree with Hyung, please don't fight.**

**Vernon: I hate to break up this sweet moment of fighting, but Hoshi-Hyung can you please turn your attention back to us please, Minghao-Hyung is trying to kill MingMing again. Kwannie and I are trying our best but he's going for the nunchucks.**

**Tiger: Dammit Hao! I'll be back I have an attempted murder to stop. Talk to you guys later.**

**S.Coups: God's speed Hoshi-ah.**

**Wonu: True that.**

**S.Coups: Check in time kids. Just picked up Doyoon, and headed to the safehouse to get things planned out more. How are you guys doing?**

**Hoshi: Great Hyung! The8 and I are tracking down Dongjinnie as we speak. MingMing was okay last time I checked. Seungkwan-ah was treating his bruises from his previous employer, and he had Vernon-ah as his gopher.**

**S.Coups: That good Hosh, how about the other stuff?**

**Hoshi: Vernon-ah was working on it when he got drafted, but from what I gather he was getting in the nitty gritty of it all. The kid’s no thief but he’s good at figuring out exits and entrance routes like one.**

**S.Coups: That’s good. Woozi status report. Oh and Yoon says hi.**

**Woozi: Tell Hyung I said hi back. And I”m working on it. Their company’s firewalls are very tough. Whatever they have in their systems they don’t want anyone to find. I’ve almost gotten through though. And Mingyu-ah and Jeonghan-Hyung left a while ago to get Sammy. Shua-Hyung is checking on Junnie, and is working on that list for you.**

**S.Coups: That’s great Wooz.**

**Hannie: Just pulled up outside the coffee shop that Sammy works at. So far I don’t see anyone that suspicious that could be stalking him. Gyu-ah and I are going in now. If you don’t hear back from us soon, then you know where we are. Love you Coups, and Shua. Hey Yoonie-long time no see.**

**S.Coups: He says hi back. And besides the fact that it sounds very ominous and depressing on your end, good job, keep me posted. You are fine right Hannie?**

**Shua: I agree with S.Coups, you are fine right Han? Mingyu a little help here.**

**Tree: We’re alright Hyung, we’re just going into the coffee shop now. Hyung’s just being dramatic.**

**S.Coups: Alright I’ll take your word for now. Good report team, we’ll meet up later.**

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Minghao didn’t even know why he had to come on this trip. He didn’t even know Dongjin! Though he knows that Soonyoung just brought him to make sure that he wouldn’t try to kill MingMing while he was gone. He doesn’t know why Soonyoung did it though. Yes, he was beyond pissed at MingMing for everything that the bastard’s done in the last little bit, but he wasn’t going to kill him...probably. Okay, don’t give him that look! He knows that they need him alive since he’s still valuable for information and all that crap, but that doesn’t mean that he has to like it alright! He can still be pissed and get the job done. He’s done it plenty of times before. And besides, if he scares the guy enough, then there’s no chance that he’ll try and double cross them because he’d be too scared to try. And he’s only slightly worried that they left 2 out of the 3 youngest alone with MingMing. Hansol is a lot better skilled fighter than people think he is. And he’s pretty intimidating when he’s zone out. And Seungkwan is scary on a good day, and that man’s a lot stronger than people give him credit for. (He got on a pilates kick a year ago and that’s really buffed him up a lot.) They’re fine by themselves but he can’t help but worry. He thought that Jun would be fine on his own and look where that got him! No, he can’t be thinking like that again, he had a job to do. 

Focusing his attention back on what they were supposed to be doing, Mingao followed Soonyoung down the street. Once they had gotten set up in their safehouse Soonyoung had dragged him back out and back to the car. They drove the car about 40 some minutes back into the city where Dongjin attended University. From the information that Jihoon gave them, Dongjin was attending school to become a lawyer. Which sparked a 15-minute rant about how proud he was of him. He had told Minghao that Dongjin had always dreamed about going to college and being a lawyer, social worker, or politician. He wanted to make a difference in the world and help people like how they helped him. He didn’t want anyone else to suffer like how they did as children and he wanted to give them an edge on the inside to help them do their job better. He left so he could accomplish his dream. That was years ago and they had never seen him since. 

It kind of saddens Minghao to listen to it. He knew that from the stories that Mingyu would tell him that Dongjin was a good kid. He didn’t like getting into trouble, and preferred to stay behind and help Joshua patch them up more than anything. He was always scared of one of them getting hurt and never coming back again. It was part of the reason that he was dead set on getting an education. He wanted to make it easier for others, especially for them, so they wouldn’t have such a high risk of getting shot every time they stepped out of the door. It seemed like something sweet that a little kid would think of to do. He doesn’t know how realistic it is though, but hey a kid can dream can’t they? Anyway, he was told that Seungcheol had arranged things for Dongjin to stay with someone that he knew so that he could go to school in a stress free environment. Mingyu had told him that Jeonghan had told Dongjin before he left that if he ever needed anything just to call and they’d drop everything to be there. When he left they stayed in their current apartment at the time for a month, and didn’t change their number for 4 months. Dongjin never called, and Jihoon’s trackers never pinged so they could only assume that he was okay on his own. No matter how much it had hurt them to watch the younger leave. 

He wondered briefly why the younger never kept in touch, but he thought twice about it. Knowing Seungcheol like he does, the leader probably told him to cut all contact once he was settled. He was probably very paranoid about Dongjin getting hurt because of them with their line of work. So the easiest solution that their leader could come up with would be to just distance themselves so much that it would make it almost impossible to put the two of them together. And Minghao can understand from a logical perspective why that would be a good idea, but seeing how it affects the ones that he loves now, and how worried and heartbroken they’ve been over the past couple of years, he’s starting to second guess himself now though. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Minghao had to get himself back on track. They had a job to do and he had to stay focused now. 

And before he knew it they were at the younger’s apartment building. Dongjin had gotten a scholarship to his university and he was doing well enough that he could work as well, and was able to move out of the dorms after only a semester or so. From the research that Jihoon had given them he lived alone, and really didn’t interact much with anyone. He kept to himself and kept his head down. It made the Chinese male wonder if he did that because of how he grew up with the group. He was probably still wary of his surroundings after everything that he had been through with SEVENTEEN. And those just aren’t things that you can unlearn easily if ever at all. Hoshi didn’t say a whole lot as they picked the locks and security codes on the front door and walked inside. The two of them took the stairs up to the younger’s apartment floor to avoid all cameras if possible. They really didn’t want to get caught by someone and risk putting Dongjin in even more danger than he already was. They were trying to do all of this on the down low as possible. It took almost no time at all to reach Dongjin’s apartment door. Once they reached it though, neither one of them really knew what to do next. 

The two thieves just stood there and looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Minghao himself was hoping that Hoshi would know what to do, since he has history with Dongjin, and he was the better people person out of the two of them. And Hoshi was hoping that Minghao knew what to do as well. Yes, he was a people person, and he knew Dongjin well, given their history, but he is too close to this. He knows this, and that is the only thing that he can really think of. He is too close to this and has no idea what to do with any of this.Even though he was the eldest and leader in this situation, he had no idea what to do. Minghao is the outsider here, and even though he knows that the younger hates it, it gives him a one up on him this time. He can look at this situation from a different perspective and not let his feelings and emotions get in the way. But no one knew what to do though, and neither was too confident in asking the other what to do. 

The two of them stood there and looked at the closed door in front of them for the next couple of minutes. And the next thing that they knew there were footsteps coming up behind them. Both of them tensed up at that, they had no idea if they were friend or foe to them, so it was better to play it on the safe side. They were broken out of their stupor when they heard a voice speak up behind them. “Um,.. Excuse me, are you looking for someone?” The voice asked. And Minghao had never heard that voice before, so he was very well prepared to turn and attack. They didn’t have time to waste, and they had to make sure that Dongjin was safe and that they weren’t too late. Hoshi on the other hand has a completely different reaction to it. He spun around faster than Minghao thought humanly possible, and he just launched himself at the person standing behind them. Not going to lie, it freaked him out a little bit. It wasn’t until he heard him speak that he was sure that the elder was okay and the person behind them was no threat. “Dongjinnie!” He yelled. Ah, that explains it then. 

Turning around himself, Minghao saw Hoshi had thrown himself on who he assumed to be Dongjin. Though that would make sense since they are standing right outside the younger man’s apartment. “Soonyoung-Hyung?” Dongjin asked back in a small voice. And if Minghao hadn’t been standing next to the two of them at that moment, then he never would have heard him. Soonyoung just nodded his head, and that was all that it took. The younger dropped the bags that he was carrying to the ground and threw his arms around the elder’s neck. The two of them stayed in that position for the next couple of minutes or so. And Minghao felt a little awkward about watching them. They were standing in the middle of the hallway, and yet he couldn’t help but to feel like he was invading on a private moment of theirs. Though it wasn’t that long after words that the two of them pulled apart and Hoshi turned back to him. 

Minghao just stood there and stared at them. He had no idea what Hoshi was up to but he had a bad feeling about this though. Hoshi was smiling at him, and Dongjin was looking at him questionably. “Dongjin-ah,” Hoshi said, addressing the younger boy. “This is Minghao, or Myungho, or The8.” Soonyoung said as he was pointing to the other thief. “He’s with us, and he’s also your Hyung.” He told him. Dongjin just nodded his head and smiled timidly at Minghao. Said Chinese thief just smiled awkwardly and waved. He really didn’t do well with new people. Why did he get picked for this again? 

“Hyung, not that I mind that you’re here.” Dongjin said. “But why, we haven’t seen each other in years.” The younger one told him. “Seungcheol-Hyung told me to keep a low profile and he said that he would keep you guys away to keep me safe.” He told him. “He said that if anyone showed up without any notice then that meant that something was wrong.” He said. “What’s going on Hyung?” He asked him. Minghao had to give props to the kid, he knew that he had to follow Seungcheol’s advice and it looked like he was doing everything in his power to try and keep everyone safe. And he was a hell of a lot more perceptive then he looked. He watched Soonyoung pause for a couple of beats before he went and explained everything to the younger. “Remember Junnie and MingMing?” Soonyoung asked him. Dongjin nodded his head, the two of them had joined not that long before he left so he wasn’t too familiar with them like Soonyoung was but he remembered. “Yes, why?” He asked him. “Okay, you know how you left to go to school?” He asked him. Dongjin nodded his head. “Well, MingMing left too, but he didn’t go to school, he went somewhere to where even Hoonie couldn’t find him.” Minghao watched the younger’s eyes widen at that. Everyone knew how good Jihoon was at what he did, so if he couldn’t find someone then no one could. “We didn’t know where he was for years, and then one day he showed up on a job we were doing.” Soonyoung told him. “As it turns out Ming got in with the wrong crowd and Junnie ended up hurt.” He told him. “Is Jun-Hyung okay?” Dongjin asked him. Even though he wasn’t as close with him as everyone else was, Jun always treated the younger nice and he liked being around him. “He’s okay now Shua-Hyung made sure of that.” He told him. 

“But that’s not all of it is it?” Dongjin asked him. Soonyoung paused, there was no good way to tell someone that ‘Hey, we pissed off some really bad people who now want us all that, and that may or may not include you too.’ So Minghao just decided to bite the bullet and do it. “No it’s not.” Minghao said. “I’m sorry Dongjin-ssi, but what Hyung is having trouble telling you is that you are in danger.” He told him. “These people that MingMing-ssi got in with are very bad people, and we and the rest of the members have royally pissed them off doing our jobs.” He explained. “MingMing got away and told us that they might be planning to come after us, and you guys as well since you used to be in the group.” He told him. Dongjin just stared at him for a few moments, clearly in shock. And Soonyoung had a look on his face that was a mixture of shock and annoyance. But Minghao paid him no mind, they had to tell Dongjin the truth and they had no time to dilly dally about this. “I’m in danger?” Dongjin finally asked turning to Hoshi. The elder nodded his head. “I’m sorry Jinnie-ah.” He told him. “But Cheol-Hyung thinks it’s the best that you come stay with us for a while so that we can keep you safe.” He told him. “Okay, if that’s best, but can I get my toothbrush first Hyung, I just changed it?” He asked. And both thieves had to hold back their laughter at that. Man, Dongjin was way too innocent for this. 

As they went to get Dongjin packed up and ready Soonyoung texted the others.

**S.Coups: Just got off the phone with Yoon. He's in, going to meet him now. Working on other stuff as well. How's it going on your guy's end?**

**Woozi: Almost to the safehouse. Just got a lead on some more dirt I think. Haven't decided who's going after Sam with Mingyu yet though. What about you Hosh?**

**Tiger: Working on it. Trying to keep Minghao's attention focused on the road and not put the car in park to go beat MingMing to a pulp. Still trying to decide who's going after Dongjinnie though. But we're close.**

**Hannie: We don't need to decide Woozi . I'm going with Mingyu after Sammy.**

**Shua: Oh no you're not, you are sick, and can barely stand. You are staying put with Jun where it's safe. Tell him Cheol.**

**S.Coups: While Shua does have a point Hannie, I know that regardless of what I say you're just going to do whatever you want anyway. So all that I am going to say is to be careful and don't give Shua an heart attack please.**

**Shua: Cheol! You're supposed to be on my side!**

**Hannie: Thank you Cheollie, love you. <3\. And Joshjussi suck it.**

**Shua: Very mature Jeonghan.**

**Jun: Hyungs please don't fight, you know that we don't like it when you do.**

**DK: I agree with Hyung, please don't fight.**

**Vernon: I hate to break up this sweet moment of fighting, but Hoshi-Hyung can you please turn your attention back to us please, Minghao-Hyung is trying to kill MingMing again. Kwannie and I are trying our best but he's going for the nunchucks.**

**Tiger: Dammit Hao! I'll be back I have an attempted murder to stop. Talk to you guys later.**

**S.Coups: God's speed Hoshi-ah.**

**Wonu: True that.**

**S.Coups: Check in time kids. Just picked up Doyoon, and headed to the safehouse to get things planned out more. How are you guys doing?**

**Hoshi: Great Hyung! The8 and I are tracking down Dongjinnie as we speak. MingMing was okay last time I checked. Seungkwan-ah was treating his bruises from his previous employer, and he had Vernon-ah as his gopher.**

**S.Coups: That good Hosh, how about the other stuff?**

**Hoshi: Vernon-ah was working on it when he got drafted, but from what I gather he was getting in the nitty gritty of it all. The kid’s no thief but he’s good at figuring out exits and entrance routes like one.**

**S.Coups: That’s good. Woozi status report. Oh and Yoon says hi.**

**Woozi: Tell Hyung I said hi back. And I”m working on it. Their company’s firewalls are very tough. Whatever they have in their systems they don’t want anyone to find. I’ve almost gotten through though. And Mingyu-ah and Jeonghan-Hyung left a while ago to get Sammy. Shua-Hyung is checking on Junnie, and is working on that list for you.**

**S.Coups: That’s great Wooz.**

**Hannie: Just pulled up outside the coffee shop that Sammy works at. So far I don’t see anyone that suspicious that could be stalking him. Gyu-ah and I are going in now. If you don’t hear back from us soon, then you know where we are. Love you Coups, and Shua. Hey Yoonie-long time no see.**

**S.Coups: He says hi back. And besides the fact that it sounds very ominous and depressing on your end, good job, keep me posted. You are fine right Hannie?**

**Shua: I agree with S.Coups, you are fine right Han? Mingyu a little help here.**

**Tree: We’re alright Hyung, we’re just going into the coffee shop now. Hyung’s just being dramatic.**

**S.Coups: Alright I’ll take your word for now. Good report team, we’ll meet up later.**

**Hoshi: Just got Dongjinnie. We’re getting him packed and then heading back. Will give updates on other stuff once I’ve talked to Vernon.**

**S.Coups: Got it Hosh good luck.**

And by God was he going to need it. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Not that long after Joshua and Jeonghan’s disagreement was settled, Mingyu and Jeonghan took off to go get Sammy. The two of them got in the car and drove the 20 minutes that it took to get from their hideout to the little coffee shop that the youngest worked at. It was nothing big, no big brand, or big name. Just a little mom and pop shop as Joshua says they call it in America. The two of them didn’t really talk a whole lot on the way there. Though Mingyu had to pull off on the side of the road every so often to let Jeonghan dry-heave on the edge of the road. He knew that the older was very ill at this point, but there wasn’t a whole lot that they could do to stop him now. He was worried and the only way to make him sit down and rest is when everyone is safe and the bad guys are pulled away. 

It took almost no time at all, even with all of their stops before they were pulling up front in front of the coffee house. Mingyu put the car in park and killed the engine. He stopped and looked over at Jeonghan. The elder was quiet, which he had been this whole entire time, and he looked pale. Mingyu was really worried about him. “Hyung, are you sure you’re okay enough to do this?” He asked. He didn’t want to piss the elder off, but he knew that he had to make sure that Jeonghan was up to this. “I’m fine Gyu.” He told him. “We have to get to Sammy, we need to make sure that he’s alright.” He told him. “Now, do you see anything suspicious? We have to check and see that Sammy’s not being followed.” He told him. Mingyu just sighed at his Hyung and did what he was told. Looking around the area, he couldn’t really see anything that caught his eye at the moment. But they only just got here, and Kim’s guys were good, so it would be very hard to figure out what was what. “No, not that I can see, but Sammy might know better once we get to him.” Mingyu said. Jeonghan just nodded his head and the two of them pulled on their masks and got in the car. 

Stepping inside the little coffee shop, and looking around there weren't a whole lot of people there. It had a decent amount to where it wouldn’t be considered dead. But there weren’t a lot of people in there either. Which made it easy for them to pick out Sammy behind the counter. He had grown a lot and had lost all of his baby fat in his face for the most part, but he still looked like the same spunky, funny little kid that used to run around the apartment begging to ride on all of the Hyung’s shoulders. Mingyu and Jeonghan shared a knowing look and headed towards the counter. There was a small line at the register, but luckily Sammy was on the farther end away from the crowd, making it easier for them to talk to him.The two of them walked up together, the youngest was busy cleaning so he hadn’t seen them coming yet. “Um, excuse me can we talk to you for a second please..?” Mingyu asked first. Jeonghan just rolled his eyes at him. “Um, yes, sure, just give me a couple of seconds to finish cleaning this, and then I can help you sir, but if you need to order something then I recommended going to the register.” He said. “Sammy, I don’t think that would be necessary.” And that made the younger male pause in his motions and look up. 

Sammy looked up and saw who was there. Both Mingyu and Jeonghan had pulled their masks down a little bit to make it easier for Sammy to recognize them. It took all of two seconds before Sammy spoke. “Hyungs!” He said as he leaned over the counter to give them hugs. “What are you guys doing here, it’s been so long!” He said excitedly. Though Jeonghan could see the apprehension and the worry in his eyes at seeing them. It was a tactic that Jeonghan had taught the younger to help keep up a persona on a job so he wouldn’t get caught. It warmed his heart a bit to learn that he still remembered that. “Can’t we just come here to see you?” Mingyu asked. “We’ve missed you after all Sammy.” He said. Or in other words, Mingyu was letting the younger know that they were for more than just pleasantries. Damn, he taught these kids good. “You can, but it’s been awhile still.” Sammy told him. The three of them were then interrupted by who Jeonghan assumed was the manager of this place by her uniform. 

“Samuel-ah, who are these people?” Sammy’s manager was a woman who looked to be around Chan’s age, with long jet black hair and tan skin. She was dressed to impress even for a coffee shop, and she had an air of authority around her. Jeonghan made a note to come back here after this with Chan to introduce them. “Oh, Manager-Noona, these are my Hyungs, Jeonghan-Hyung, and Mingyu-Hyung.” He told her. “I used to live with them when I was little, remember me telling you about them?” He asked her. The younger woman took a minute to respond. “Oh, these must be the famous Hyungs that I’ve heard so much about.” She told them. “Samuel talks a lot about you guys.” She said. “It’s nice to meet you, my name is Moon Yeji.” She said as she introduced herself. “And I’m a 98-liner.” She said. Jeonghan smiled as he and Mingyu shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you Yeji-ssi, and we’re terribly sorry to bother you, but we came to see Samuel.” He said. He then turned to the younger and spoke. “I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news Sammy, but it’s about Junnie.” He said. Samuel paused for a second. “What about Junnie-Hyung is he okay?” He asked. The two of them were practically close, Jun always loved to play with the younger and they took great joy in harassing Jihoon everyday. “There was an accident, and Jun-ah got hurt.” He told him. “He’s okay now, but we figured that you would want to know, you know how our aunt is.” Jeonghan said. “She wanted to make sure that you knew.” Which was a code that they had come up with when something bad had happened but they couldn’t openly discuss it. He hoped Sammy remembered. 

“Oh no!” Sammy said in shock. “I should go see Hyung.” He said. “Can I go see Hyung?” He asked. And it looked like the younger remembered. The younger was already in the process of taking off his apron and trying to figure out the fastest route to get him to clock out before Mingyu stopped him.“Yes you can Sammy, it’s alright with us, but you better ask your boss before you come flying out of here.” Mingyu said as he teased him. Samuel paused in his movements and turned towards his manager. “Yeji-Noona I am so sorry, but can I please clock out early, I only have 5 minutes left and I promise that I’ll work extra shifts and overtime to make up for it.” Samuel told her as he begged. “But I have to make sure that Hyung’s okay.” He told her. Yeji just looked at them and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it kid, it’s only 5 minutes.” She told him. “And besides, I know how much these people mean to you.” She told him. “Go, and if you need more time off just text me yeah.” She said. She moved over and hugged the younger before turning back to the two elder males. “I only ask that you two take care of this one, we’ve gotten quiet close over these past years and he’s like a little brother to me.” She told him. “And I know how much trouble that this one can get into.”She said. “Don’t worry about Yeji-ssi, we’ll take good care of him.” Jeonghan said as Sammy came over to them. They waved goodbye and headed out the door to the car. 

Jeonghan pulled out his phone as everyone got loaded in and texted an update.

**S.Coups: Just got off the phone with Yoon. He's in, going to meet him now. Working on other stuff as well. How's it going on your guy's end?**

**Woozi: Almost to the safehouse. Just got a lead on some more dirt I think. Haven't decided who's going after Sam with Mingyu yet though. What about you Hosh?**

**Tiger: Working on it. Trying to keep Minghao's attention focused on the road and not put the car in park to go beat MingMing to a pulp. Still trying to decide who's going after Dongjinnie though. But we're close.**

**Hannie: We don't need to decide Woozi . I'm going with Mingyu after Sammy.**

**Shua: Oh no you're not, you are sick, and can barely stand. You are staying put with Jun where it's safe. Tell him Cheol.**

**S.Coups: While Shua does have a point Hannie, I know that regardless of what I say you're just going to do whatever you want anyway. So all that I am going to say is to be careful and don't give Shua an heart attack please.**

**Shua: Cheol! You're supposed to be on my side!**

**Hannie: Thank you Cheollie, love you. <3\. And Joshjussi suck it.**

**Shua: Very mature Jeonghan.**

**Jun: Hyungs please don't fight, you know that we don't like it when you do.**

**DK: I agree with Hyung, please don't fight.**

**Vernon: I hate to break up this sweet moment of fighting, but Hoshi-Hyung can you please turn your attention back to us please, Minghao-Hyung is trying to kill MingMing again. Kwannie and I are trying our best but he's going for the nunchucks.**

**Tiger: Dammit Hao! I'll be back I have an attempted murder to stop. Talk to you guys later.**

**S.Coups: God's speed Hoshi-ah.**

**Wonu: True that.**

**S.Coups: Check in time kids. Just picked up Doyoon, and headed to the safehouse to get things planned out more. How are you guys doing?**

**Hoshi: Great Hyung! The8 and I are tracking down Dongjinnie as we speak. MingMing was okay last time I checked. Seungkwan-ah was treating his bruises from his previous employer, and he had Vernon-ah as his gopher.**

**S.Coups: That good Hosh, how about the other stuff?**

**Hoshi: Vernon-ah was working on it when he got drafted, but from what I gather he was getting in the nitty gritty of it all. The kid’s no thief but he’s good at figuring out exits and entrance routes like one.**

**S.Coups: That’s good. Woozi status report. Oh and Yoon says hi.**

**Woozi: Tell Hyung I said hi back. And I”m working on it. Their company’s firewalls are very tough. Whatever they have in their systems they don’t want anyone to find. I’ve almost gotten through though. And Mingyu-ah and Jeonghan-Hyung left a while ago to get Sammy. Shua-Hyung is checking on Junnie, and is working on that list for you.**

**S.Coups: That’s great Wooz.**

**Hannie: Just pulled up outside the coffee shop that Sammy works at. So far I don’t see anyone that suspicious that could be stalking him. Gyu-ah and I are going in now. If you don’t hear back from us soon, then you know where we are. Love you Coups, and Shua. Hey Yoonie-long time no see.**

**S.Coups: He says hi back. And besides the fact that it sounds very ominous and depressing on your end, good job, keep me posted. You are fine right Hannie?**

**Shua: I agree with S.Coups, you are fine right Han? Mingyu a little help here.**

**Tree: We’re alright Hyung, we’re just going into the coffee shop now. Hyung’s just being dramatic.**

**S.Coups: Alright I’ll take your word for now. Good report team, we’ll meet up later.**

**Hoshi: Just got Dongjinnie. We’re getting him packed and then heading back. Will give updates on other stuff once I’ve talked to Vernon.**

**S.Coups: Got it Hosh good luck.**

**Hannie: We got Sammy, just have to make sure we aren’t being followed and then we can leave. Will text you when we get back to the safehouse. Love you two.**

**S.Coups: Good, I love you two, too, text when you get back, or if there’s someone following you.**

**Shua: That’s great, be careful, and what Cheol said. Love you two too, and be safe.**

And Jeonghan let out a deep breath, today was going to be a long day. 


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start picking up between SEVENTEEN and Bangtan. Ft. guest appearances from some other groups.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this took a little bit longer to get out then I wanted to. Life happened and it kind of push back all of my plans for publishing this last week. But anyway, we're here now and that's all that matters! Have fun reading! And stay safe out there people. Have a nice day!   
> -N.

Chapter 25 

It didn't take them that long to get back in the car once they left the coffee shop. Though Jeonghan and Mingyu kept Sammy in the middle of them just to be on the safe side. Just because it didn't look like they were being followed at the moment didn't mean that someone was nearby ready to strike at any moment. It was better to be safe than sorry at this point. And Jeonghan was going to be damned if he let anyone come near his two dongsaengs. He quickly ushered Samuel into the back seat while Mingyu walked around the car and got in the driver's seat. Then Jeonghan got in the front passenger seat. Or at least he was trying to. He had to stop himself and lean up against the car as he was trying to open the door. He was suddenly hit with a dizzy spell that tried to topple him over. It quickly passed thankfully, but it still left his head spinning. He pulled open the door and got into the car. 

Mingyu and Samuel didn't say anything at first. They just let him get in, and settled before they said anything. Mingyu looked at him, and Jeonghan promptly ignored him. He knew that the younger man was worried about him, but they didn't have time to do this. They had more important things to do at the moment. Jeonghan took a deep breath and then turned his attention to Samuel in the backseat. He turned around to face the younger before he spoke. "Sammy-ah." Jeonghan said to get his attention. The younger had looked up at the call of his name from where he had been looking at his hands in his lap. "Yes, Hyung?" Sammy asked. Jeonghan couldn't help but to smile at him. God, he missed the younger so much. "Are you okay?" He asked him. Sammy didn't hesitate and quickly nodded his head. "I'm fine Hyung, but what about you and Mingyu-Hyung and the rest of the Hyungs?" He asked him. "We're fine Sammy, we're more concerned about you at the moment." Mingyu said as he butted in. Samuel didn't say anything and just nodded his head in understanding. 

"Does this mean that you can explain what exactly is going on now?" Samuel asked. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but it's been awhile and the last time that I saw you guys, Seungcheol-Hyung wasn't exactly happy with me." He told them. Jeonghan just laughed and shook his head fondly at the younger. "Don't worry about it Sammy, Cheollie's not mad at you anymore he never was." Jeonghan told him. "And it's a long story." He said. "But we can explain as we drive back to the safehouse where the others are." He told him. "But first I need to ask you something." Jeonghan explained to him. "Sure Hyung." Sam told him. "Have you noticed anything strange going on recently?" He asked him. Samuel looked at him funny for a couple of minutes. "What do you mean strange Hyung?" He asked him. "Like strange people coming around the coffee shop." Mingyu said. "People that you've never seen before that just started popping up all over the place." He said. "Someone you've never met before that just started walking up to you and talking, wanting to know your whole life story." He told him. "Or someone following you, watching while you work, and trying to follow you to school or home or something?" Jeonghan asked. 

Samuel didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. The two elders could tell that the younger was thinking about it. "I don't think so." Samuel told them. "I'll admit that I'm not as cautious as I was about the world around as I was with you guys." He admitted. "But I still look over my shoulder a lot more than any kid my age should." He told them. "I haven't really noticed anyone off coming in." He told them. "It's just been the regulars and the occasional tourists." He told them. "I haven't noticed anyone trying to tail me and follow me anywhere." He told them. "What about cars, have you seen the same car a lot in the past couple of months or so?" Jeonghan asked him. "Just parking out front near the shop and not moving for hours?" Samuel hummed at that. "I don't think so." He told them. "At one point I thought that I did, but as it turns out it was a private investigator." He told them."As it turned out he was tailing one of our regulars because he was stepping out on his wife and was having regular meetups with his mistress before going to their regular scheduled hotel." Sam told them. "He gave the wife a call and she showed up and got in a fist fight in the middle of the lunch rush." He told them. "Yeji-Noona and I had a heck of a hard time trying to break it up before the police got there."He said. "It was kind of awesome, it kind of reminded me of Seungcheol-Hyung a little bit." He told them. 

Jeonghan couldn't help but to chuckle a little bit at that. Yeah it did sound like Seungcheol when they were younger and were first starting out. Seungcheol always managed to find a fight wherever they went. "Yeah that sounds like him." Jeonghan mused. He turned to look at Mingyu. "Okay, I'm not a hundred percent sure that there's a chance that we're being followed." He told him. "But we're still going to be careful, so we're going the long way back to the safehouse." He told him. Mingyu just nodded and turned the engine of the car over and pulled out and onto the road. And Jeonghan then proceeded to explain to Samuel what was going on. "It all started about 3 or 4 months ago." Jeonghan told him. "We were on a job, and it was your usual break into the scumbag CEO's office to steal the flies, leak them, and so on." He told them. "We were all split up at the time." He told them. "Then all of a sudden the comms go out." He told him. "We didn't know what was wrong or what was going on." He told him. "They cut on long enough for us to find out that MingMing was there, and to hear the gunshot go off." He explained. "MingMing-Hyung is the one who shot Junnie-Hyung?" Sammy asked. "Why? I thought that they were best friends?" He asked. Jeonghan just hummed in response. "Yeah we thought so too." Jeonghan told him. "Anyway, we got Junnie to the hospital and Shua was able to work his magic to save him." He told the younger trying to avoid telling him all the gory details. "Later we would come to find out that MingMing had gotten in with some very bad people." He told him. "They recruited him to try and get to us." He told him. "MingMing shot Jun because he said that he had no choice." He told him. "He said that he didn't want to do it, but he was told that if he didn't they were going to get someone else to do it." Jeonghan said. "Even though he didn't want to, he knew that if he didn't the other guy was going to kill Junnie." He told him. 

"Who's after you guys Hyung?" Sammy asked. "And why are they after me?" "The guy that's after us is Kim Se-Jung, or otherwise known as the Black Dragon." He told him. "He's one of the worst criminals out there, and he knew that eventually we were going after him." He said. "So what better way to protect yourself than to put the threat on your payroll."He told him. "And he was going to do so by any means necessary." He said. "Which is where you, Dongjin, and Doyoon come in." Jeonghan said. "MingMing had stumbled on evidence that they were going after the three of you, and maybe our families to use as leverage against us to do his bidding." He told him. "That's awful Hyung." Sammy told him. "I know, which is why we broke our distance and came after you guys." He told him. "We didn't want anyone else to get hurt in this big mess." He told him. Sammy didn't say anything for a couple of minutes and when he did, it sent shivers down Jeonghan's spine. "Are we going to be okay Jeonghan-Hyung?" He asked. Jeonghan took a deep breath and looked over at Mingyu in the driver's seat. "We're going to be okay." He told him. "I promise you Sammy that I am going to do whatever I have to do to make sure that you guys are okay." He told him. And if Mingyu gave him a weird look from the driver's seat then he could just pretend that he didn't see it. 

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Once they had all gotten back to the safehouse, Seungcheol had broken off from the rest of the group and went into a back room. The safehouse that he had for them was an old abandoned warehouse about 30 minutes from the apartment. No one had been there in years, and Seungcheol had discovered this place years ago when he was running away from a group of guys who were trying to shank him because he got in the way of their drug deal. He kept the location of it a secret and when they started their little group a couple of months later, he put it in their resources as a backup plan for worse case scenarios. And sadly this is a worse case scenario and it was also the first time that they have ever had to use it for something like this. (Though he has taken Joshua and Jeonghan here a couple of times on romantic dates, yeah, that's what they were dates.) Anyway, this place was secure and he could count on them being okay here until they were to meet up with the others to formulate a plan. 

While he could trust the rest of his group to set up and get to work, Seungcheol had snuck off to the old office of the warehouse. He needed to make a phone call, and a private place to do so. So the only option that he had was to use the old office. You could tell that no one had been in there in ages with how cluttered and dirty the place was. But it would do. Pulling out his phone he dialed up a number that he has been calling off and on a whole lot in these past couple of months. He really wished that this could be over with already. "Hello?" Seungcheol said as the other picked up. "This is S. Coups." He told him. 

"Ah, Coups-ah how are you?" Namjoon asked on the other end of the line. "I guess that I can concur that you have taken care of the things necessary since you're calling me?" He asked him. Seungcheol hummed on the other line. "Yes Hyung, things are wrapping up on that end now." He told him. "I figured that I better go ahead and give you all a heads up before we all show up on your doorsteps." He told him. Namjoon just chuckled on the other end. "Don't worry about it Seungcheol-ah." He told the younger one. "Well I wanted to warn you since, you know we can be very loud, and chaotic." He told him. "And there are a lot of us." Namjoon just laughed. "Don't worry about it trust me." Seungcheol told him. "I live with the 6 other main members of my group, and my two younger cousins and their 3 friends, and I'm pretty V-ah has found another group of strays that he's trying to bring into the fold not so discreetly." He told him. Seungcheol could just only shake his head in disbelief. "At least it's not a raccoon, my kids have already tried that on me." He told him. "And that ended in a hospital visit, a couple of broken bones, and a couple of rounds of rabies shots." He told him. "It was not pleasant." Namjoon just chuckled on the other end. "Yeah, sounds like it." He told him. 

"So what do you need me to do now Coups?" Namjoon asked him to get back to business. "Well, currently we're all split up into three different safehouses that we have in our resources." He told him. "It's too dangerous for all of us to be in one place, even though almost no one knows about these things." Seungcheol told them. "We only had the one when MingMing was here, and he didn't know about it, and we got the other two after he left." Seungcheol explained to him. "Well I can hook you guys up with something." Namjoon said. "Just give me a couple of moments I have to get Suga-Hyung to check on something for me." He told him. It was a couple of moments of silence on the phone as Seungcheol waited. He heard the elder walking around wherever he was at, and some muffled conversations before the elder got back on the phone. "Okay, I checked with Hyung and he said that we have a couple of different options for you guys to choose from." He told him. "I honestly don't care Hyung."" Seungcheol told him. "I'll take whatever you got. I'm not picky." The younger one told him. "Well, I know out of all of these that there's a really good one here that I can send you too." He told him. "It's not that far from our main headquarters, and it's near a couple of different other groups that we're allies with." He said. "I told them to lay low for now, but I can guarantee once I call them they'll be more than happy to keep on the lookout for you guys."He told him. "Thank you so much Hyung, this means so much to us." He told him. "Don't worry about it Cheol-ah." He told him. "I'm more than happy to help, and besides we're all in this together." He told him. "If Kim's coming after you guys, who's to say that he won't try and come after us next?" He told him. "I'm just being a decent human being and a smart leader, I don't want anyone else to get hurt." He told him. 

"Again, I just want to thank you Hyung." He told him. "I really appreciate it." He said. "It's no problem Seungcheol-ah." He said. "Anything for a friend." He told him. And that was the first time that in a while since this whole mess started that Seungcheol felt some of the tension ease and leave his shoulders instead of piling up on him. Somehow he knew that this was going to turn out alright in the end. 

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After hanging up the phone with Seungcheol, Namjoon got to work. He had texted the younger directions to the new safehouse that they had for them. He's never been more gald for Yoongi's compulsive need to reorganize their filing systems to make everything easier to access. It has really come in handy this time. Once he did that, he moved on to the next task at hand. He had to get into contact with both the leaders of GOT7 and Stray Kids. He knew all of the numbers to every member of GOT7, but he didn't have that much on Stray Kids. They were a younger group, and they were like the little brothers to Got7 like TXT was to them. But he knew that Jackson probably knew what they were or how to get into contact with them. So he went and called JB up and hoped for the best. 

It only took a couple of minutes before the other leader was picking up the floor. "What do you want?" Was the first thing that Namjoon heard when the elder picked up. "Nice to see you too Jaebum-ah" He said. "Sorry Namjoon-ah, I don't mean to be short with you but it's been a very long day." He told him. "I thought that you guys were keeping a low profile because of everything going down with SEVENTEEN?" He asked him. "We are, but we still have a couple of loose ends to tie up on some smaller scale cases that we were working on beforehand." He told him. "We've been dealing with that all day, and on top of that, the kids have been driving me nuts since they've been cooped up for so long." Yeah he feels that. His kids haven't been too keen on staying indoors the whole time but they kept annoying him to no ends down for the most part. But from experience he knows that Jaebum is not that lucky. "Something tells me that I don't want to know do I?" Namjoon asked. "Let's just say that Jinyoungie has impromptuly dyed his hair green and if asked it looks wonderful on him." Jaebum told him. "Well, I'll be sure to tell everyone else that." Namjoon said. 

"Not that I'm not happy to hear from you or anything Joon, but why did you call exactly?" JB asked on the other end of the line. "Well, you since you mentioned SEVENTEEN," Namjoon said. "I just got off the phone with their leader S.Coups." Namjoon told him. "What did he have to say?" JB asked. "They just went and picked up all of the former members of their group that they could track down, and brought them back." He told them. "They're working on other things too, but I told him to call me when he was ready." He said. "I'm setting them up in one of the safehouses that's in between you guys's place, and Stray Kids." He told them. "I'm just calling to see that even though you guys are keeping a low profile to keep an eye out." He told him. "I don't want anyone to get caught in the cross-hairs, but these guys are serious and we don't know all that they're capable of." He told him. "Don't worry about it Namjoon , we'll keep an eye out." He told him. "And I'll call Channie after this and tell him to be on the lookout." He told him. "From what you told me these guys seem like psychopaths and if they're going after one of us then they're going after all of us." He told him. "If we don't do something now, then it's only a matter of time until they come for us as well." He told him. "Thank you Jaebum." Namjoon told him. "It's no problem Joon and you're welcome." He told him. "I'll Jackson or Bambie to send you Channie's contact information." He told him. "He's a good kid and you can always count on him and trust him." He told him. And then the two of them hung up. 

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It wasn't even 5 minutes after he had hung up with JB that his phone pinged with text notification. He pulled it up and saw that it was from Jackson, it was the contact information that he needed to be able to contact Stray Kids. He answered back and thanked his friend for the information. He got a smiley face in response. He then took the number to Yoongi to make sure that it was secure and safe for him to call. He knew that from the stories that Jackson told him Chan was very intuitive and intelligent when it came to things like this. He said that he was a lot like JB but worse. Still he knew that the leader of Stray Kids was a couple of months younger than the makane of his team (Jungkook not Kai.) and that the rest of his team was younger as well. He didn't want to put any of them in danger if he didn't have to. These were still just kids after all, at least they were to him and the rest of GOT7. Once Yoongi gave him the all clear and went back to threatening Hoseok to stop hovering or else, he quietly slipped out of the room to give the couple some privacy. In other words he knew not to get in the way of a pregnant person when they were angry and wanted to get the hell out of dodge. 

Walking back to the bedroom that he shared with Seokjin, Namjoon pulled up the number on his phone and hit the dail button. It took a couple of minutes before someone picked up the phone. "Hello?" A very high low pitched voice answered on the other end of the line. Namjoon was kind of surprised. Even though Jackson loved to talk about his beloved dongsaengs so he heard a lot about Chan and some of his group. But that's not the same thing as knowing him. He was a little bit curious to see who he was as a person. "Oh, yes, um I was wondering if this is the correct number?" He asked. He knew that he had to play it safe on the phone. He wanted to make sure that he could trust them and that they could trust him. He didn't want to spook anybody. "Is this one Bang Christopher Chan?" He asked, giving out the full name that Jackson had given him. "Who wants to know?" The voice who he guesses is Chris answers. "Um, this is RM, I'm an acquaintance of one of your Hyungs, Jackson?" He said. "My maknae is very close with Yugyeom and BamBam of GOT7." He told him. "JB told me that him or Jackson were supposed to call you to give you a heads up." He told him. The line was silent for a few moments before the voice spoke again. "Hang on just a second then." The voice told him. Then he heard a loud shot on the other end. "CHANNIE-HYUNG IT'S FOR YOU, IT'S JACKSON-HYUNG'S FRIEND!" And okay the voice may not belong to Chris, but whoever it is, Namjoon's got to give it to the kid he can sure yell. He's pretty sure he lost one eardrum after that. 

Namjoon heard a loud thud and a muffled shout before he heard the phone being handed over to who he hoped was Chan. "Thank you Binnie." A voice said as they picked up the phone. "Um hello, this is Bang Chan, may I ask who is calling again?" Chan asked. "Uh yes that's fine this is RM, the leader of Bangtan, I'm Jackson's friend." He told him. "I needed to contact you about something and he gave me your number and was supposed to contact you to give you a heads up." He told him. "Oh yes, Hyung did call." He told him. "Sorry for playing 20 questions but I just have to make sure that you are who you say you are, for you know safety reasons." He said. "And that's understandable, I do not fault you for that." Namjoon told him. "I know that I would do the same for my own members." He told the younger one. "I just wanted to give you an update on what was going on." He told him. "Alright go for it RM-ssi I'm all ears for it." He told him. 

"Well, as you know the group SEVENTEEN basically has a bounty on their head at this point." Namjoon told him. "And their headquarters have been compromised." He told him. "Luckily we were able to set them up in one of our safehouses." He told him. "But it's right smack dab in the middle between your headquarters and GOT7." He told him. "I know that you guys have been trying to lay low and keep out of this like a lot of other groups are doing." Namjoon told him. "But I do have a favor to ask of you, if that is alright?" He asked him. "Don't worry RM-ssi, Jaebum-Hyung told us already." Chan said. "We have no problem keeping a lookout with the Hyungs." He told him. "I know that I don't want my crew to get hurt in any of this, and I can only infer that the same goes for you and every other leader out there." He told him. "And I can only imagine what S.Coups-ssi is going through, I'd be more than happy to help." He said. "And besides, Bambie is one of my bestfriends and he can vouch for all of you because of your 97-liners." He said. Namjoon let out a sigh of relief at that. "Thank you Chan-ssi, this means a lot to me." He told him. "And call me Hyung." He said. Chan paused on the other line for a couple of beats before he said anything else. 

"Ah, thank you RM-Hyung." Chan said. "Don't worry we'll make sure that SEVENTEEN are okay." He told him. "Thank you Chan-ah." Namjoon told him. He then heard a loud crash and a bunch of shouts ring out on the other end. God, and he thought that his group was loud. He heard the younger leader sigh on the other end of the phone. "I am terribly sorry Hyung but I have to go." Chan told him. "The kids have found the roller skates and have gotten into the catnip stash." He told him. "Don't worry I've got it covered, see you later mate." He said as he hung up. Namjoon could only stare at the phone in shock. Mate? And what were they planning on doing with roller skates and catnip. It makes Namjoon grateful that for the most part his group is mostly sane. And as soon as he thought that he heard a loud bang coming from the front of the apartment and Jin yelling at who he guesses is Taehyung, since he would never do that to the rest of the kids. Well, he guesses that he spoke too soon then. 

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Once Seungcheol had gotten off of the phone with Namjoon, he left the little office and went out to track down the rest of the members with him. Namjoon had already put up a plan to have arrangements made for them. He had already been planning ahead and he's never been more grateful for someone in his life other than his brother and his lovers. But RM is very high up on that list. As he was walking out his phone pinged in his pocket. He dug around down there and fished it out to see what it was. It was a text from RM with the location and passcodes to get into the building and apartment that he had set up for them. He sent a reply back thanking the elder, before heading on to see the others. 

"Hyung, how did it go?" Wonwoo asked as he approached the elder. Seungcheol hummed and walked over to the younger as he made his way down the stairs. "Good." He told the younger one. "Where are the rest of them?" He asked. "Over there." Wonwoo said gesturing with his head in the direction that the others were in. "Okay good, I need to have a talk with all of you guys before I contact the others." He told him. "Have you heard anything from Hoshi or Woozi?" He asked as the two of them walked over. "Hosh texted me about 5 minutes after you went into the office." He told him. "It was a bunch of those little cursing emojis so I think he's about at his limit with Minghao and MingMing." He told him. "Then Vernon butted in and said that he confiscated his phone to make and his exact words were 'Make Soonyoung-Hyung chill out before Seungkwan poisons him and makes it look like an accident." He said. Seungcheol couldn't help but shake his head at the younger. He couldn't leave these kids alone for more than 15 minutes on a good day without something disastrous happening. 

The two of them found Chan, Doyoon, and Seokmin sitting at a little work table that they had found when they got here. They seemed to be sorting through supplies. "Hey Hyung." Chan said. His brother was the first one to notice that he was coming and his head had popped up to see who it was. "Hey Channie." He told him as they came closer. "What are you guys doing?" He asked as he and Wonwoo both took their seats at the table next to the three others. "Sorting through some supplies that Seokmin-Hyung found." He told him. "We found a couple of first aid kits laying around and we've scavenged some supplies that were still good." He told him. "Good job Minnie." He told the younger man. "How was the phone call Cheol?" Doyoon asked him. Seungcheol sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Good, it went better than I thought that it would." He told him. "RM-Hyung has already set something up for us to sleep in." He said. "And he's calling in favors to GOT7 and Stray Kids, our accommodations are smack dab in the middle of their headquarters almost." He told them. "He's asking them to help us keep a look out even though they're laying low just to be on the safe side like NU'EST are." He told them. 

"That's good." Doyoon told him. "What do we do now Hyung?" Chan asked him. Seungcheol just sighed and rubbed at his face. He really wanted to sleep at this point since he's been awake for almost 24 hours straight at this point. But he knew that there is still a lot of shit to be done before he could do anything else. "We need to start packing everything up again." He told them. "I still have to let Soonyoung and Jihoon know what's going on and what we need to do next." He said. "We're all going to reconvene here once I notify them so we need to be ready to go." He told them. Everyone around the table nodded their heads. "We'll get right on it Hyung." Seokmin told him. And the rest of them got up to start packing. 

While they all did that, Seungcheol pulled out his phone again and started texting Soonyoung and Jihoon about what was going on.

**S.Coups: Hey, you two online?**

**Woozi: Here, what's up?**

**S.Coups: Hang on I need both of you here before I can say anything. Hosh, you have your phone back?**

**S.Coups: Hey Vernonnie, can you give Hosh his phone back please? We need to discuss leader stuff, I promise I won't make his head explode.**

**Hoshi: Okay Hyung I'll give it back to him now.- V**

Seungcheol couldn't help but to smile at that a little bit. He just couldn't get mad at that kid, no matter how much he frustrates him.

**Hoshi: Here Hyung, what's going on?**

Seungcheol has to give him this though, he gives props to the younger for not going off the deep end and trying to strangle someone like he knows that he probably wants to at the moment. Though he hasn't heard from Seungkwan so he doesn't know what the younger man has done yet.

**S.Coups: Just got off the phone with BTS, I've updated them on our progress, and they have a place that we can crash at that's secure.**

**Woozi: That's good right?**

**S.Coups: Yes, and we're smack dab in the middle of GOT7 and Stray Kids, Bangtan called in a favor and they've agreed to help us keep watch.**

**Hoshi: Good.**

**Woozi: So what do you need us to do now?**

**S.Coups: Start packing boys and meet me at the third safehouse. We're going to convene all together and then head over to the new place. Once we get settled we're having a face to face meeting with Bangtan. Got it?**

**Hoshi: Got it Hyung, I'll get them packing.**

**Woozi: Got it, I'll alert everyone else. And I would refrain from texting Josh-Hyung and Jeonghan-Hyung at the moment. The two of them are having one of those; it's not a fight but it definitely is a fight at the moment. Mingyu and Sammy are trying to break it up.**

**S.Coups: Great.**

This day just couldn't get any more stressful could it? 

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Vernon was just minding his own business going through some papers and supplies that Seungkwan had given him. It had been a very long day and they still haven't done everything that they need to do at this point. And to top it all off he's in charge of making sure that MingMing makes it out alive. He has to keep Minghao from killing the ex-thief/mercenary. And then he had to keep Soonyoung from losing his mind and killing someone. And for the most part he didn't have to worry about Seungkwan. He just had to keep MingMing from getting on Seungkwan's bad side. And still figure out the blueprint layout of Kim's headquarters. It was an eventful day to say the least. Plus there was the new addition of Dongjin. Hansol himself didn't really know the younger boy that well. He had left a little bit before he had joined the group. So they really didn't have a whole lot in common. He was just trying to get everything down when he felt a buzzing in one of his pockets. He went fishing around in his jacket pockets and pulled out Soonyoung's phone. It had a bunch of different messages on it from Seungcheol. He opened it to see what was going on. 

**S.Coups: Hey, you two online?**

**Woozi: Here, what's up?**

**S.Coups: Hang on I need both of you here before I can say anything. Hosh, you have your phone back?**

Since he wasn't that sure what was going on at the moment, he figured that he better answer. If it was something leader important then he would just go and get Soonyoung himself to answer it. But he was still worried that if he gave him the phone now that his Hyung was going to have a stroke.

**S.Coups: Hey Vernonnie, can you give Hosh his phone back please? We need to discuss leader stuff, I promise I won't make his head explode.**

**Hoshi: Okay Hyung I'll give it back to him now.- V**

Reading the text, Vernon replied and then went to go get Soonyoung to give him his phone back. "Hyung!" He called as he walked over to Soonyoung where he was talking with Minghao. He was probably trying to convince the younger thief not to get all homicidal on MingMing. He noticed that Dongjin was with Seungkwan and MingMing at the moment. The two of them seemed to be helping the youngest med student with packing something but he wasn't sure what. "Yes, Sol?" Hoshi asked as he turned around. "It's your phone, it's Cheol-Hyung and he said that it's leader stuff." He told him. "He said that it won't make your head explode." He told him. The elder just sighed and held out his hand to receive his phone back.

**Hoshi: Here Hyung, what's going on?**

**S.Coups: Just got off the phone with BTS, I've updated them on our progress, and they have a place that we can crash at that's secure.**

**Woozi: That's good right?**

**S.Coups: Yes, and we're smack dab in the middle of GOT7 and Stray Kids, Bangtan called in a favor and they've agreed to help us keep watch.**

**Hoshi: Good.**

**Woozi: So what do you need us to do now?**

**S.Coups: Start packing boys and meet me at the third safehouse. We're going to convene all together and then head over to the new place. Once we get settled we're having a face to face meeting with Bangtan. Got it?**

**Hoshi: Got it Hyung, I'll get them packing.**

**Woozi: Got it, I'll alert everyone else. And I would refrain from texting Josh-Hyung and Jeonghan-Hyung at the moment. The two of them are having one of those; it's not a fight but it definitely is a fight at the moment. Mingyu and Sammy are trying to break it up.**

**S.Coups: Great.**

Vernon just watched over his shoulder as the elder conversed with their leader. It was nice that they were able to work something out with Bangtan. He didn't really know a whole lot about the other group other than the fact that they blew a lot of stuff up, and that Mingyu was friends with one of their members. But he understood that in situations like these that it was better to work in large numbers. If they all band together then it would be more likely for them to succeed. Even though Vernon knows that his team is capable of doing almost everything, he's a little bit unsure about what's going on now. He knows that they could probably pull something off by themselves if they had to, but he really didn't want to.

"What are we going to do now Hyung?" Hansol asks once he's sure that the elder is done with his phone. Hoshi turns around to him and blinks a little bit at him. It then dawned on him that the younger was looking over his shoulder as he was texting. "Oh, well if you've read the texts then you know what we need to do." The elder said as he rubbed the younger's head. "Come on, it's just simpler for me to tell it to all of you at once." Soonyoung told him. And the two of them walked over to where the others were seated. "What's going on Hyung?" Dongjin asked since he was the first one to see them approach. "I just got a text from Cheol-Hyung." He told them. "And?" Seungkwan asked as he was messing with a bag of some sort. Hansol guessed that it was for something medical. "He just got off the phone with Bangtan, they're in." He told them. "RM-ssi has a place set up for us to sleep and work." He told them. "Hyung wants us to pack everything up that we can." He told them. "He just sent me an address for us to head to now." He said. "So get packing boys." He told them. 

The rest of the boys got moving and started fluttering around the room packing everything up that they could get their hands on. Even MingMing helped pack a little bit, though he was still handcuffed, and under the supervision of Minghao. Hansol kind of had to pity the poor guy a little bit. Spending time around a pissed off Minghao is not a pleasant time at all. But he decided that he wasn't going to touch that issue with a 10 meter pole. If something happened then Soonyoung was going to deal with it. He just stuck to helping Seungkwan pack up. 

The two 98-liners worked in a comfortable silence with one another as they got to work. Even though they weren't given an exact time on when to be there, they both knew that Soonyoung wanted them out of here as soon as possible. So they both got to work and hoped that two-heads worked out better than one. About 10 or 15 minutes later when they were almost done packing one of Seungkwan's bags of medical supplies the slightly elder stopped. Vernon paused in his own movements and looked over at him. "Something wrong Boo?" He asked in a quiet voice. It's not that he didn't want the others to overhear their conversation, he loved and trusted the Hyungs, and so did Seungkwan, but sometimes it was hard for him to be open about what was bothering him. It took a lot to get him to open up sometimes and Vernon was one of the only people that could get him to crack with the exception of Jeonghan. That man could get anyone to crack. 

"Nothing." Seungkwan said. Vernon didn't say anything for a second. He knew that if he gave the elder enough time he would come clean. It didn't even take a full 2 minutes before he cracked. "I'm worried." He whispered. "About what?" Vernon asked even though he probably already knew the answer to that. "This." Seungkwan said. "Us." He said gesturing his arms around to include all of the people in the same room with them. "I know that Cheol-Hyung has a plan, and that Bangtan are helping, and some other groups.." He said as he trailed off. "But I just can't help but worry that something's going to go wrong and that it's going to be the end of us." Seungkwan confessed. And Vernon knew that he older was worried about what was going on, but he didn't know that it was to this extent. "Don't worry." Hansol said as he moved and put an arm around the shorter. "Hyung's got it covered and it's all going to be alright." Hansol told him. "I promise Seungkwan okay, if I have anything to say about no one is going to hurt you or anyone else in this group." He told him. Seungkwan just smiled shyly at him. "Thanks, Hansol." He told him. And Vernon couldn't help but blush a little bit at that. "No problem Boo." 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Woozi was sitting in his chair at a table in his makeshift office. He was trying to crack all of the financial and legal information that he could get on the people after him. Even though Kim Se-Jung was a grade-A douchebag, he has got to give the man this, he doesn't skimp on security. Though that doesn't make his job any easier. But at least it was somewhat quiet now for the moment. Jeonghan and Mingyu even though they had Samuel still weren't back yet. So it was just him, Jun and Joshua left in their safehouse. And again, Woozi has got to be glad that Jun was there with them. Joshua, after his little spat with Jeonghan, had been a nervous wreck. He knew that the elder was worried about his lover and he felt bad for him as well, he knows what that's like. But he just didn't know how to comfort people like this, but Jun just gravitates towards people like that. And he's spent the last 20 minutes helping the elder pack, organize, and repack things to try and keep him calm somewhat. Even though he knew that he wasn't good with people, Jihoon knew that if Jeonghan didn't walk through that door in the next 5 minutes that Joshua was going to lose it. And that was when his phone went off. He pulled it out and checked that it was a notification from Seungcheol, he tapped it and opened it. 

**S.Coups: Hey, you two online?**

****Hmm…..If Seungcheol is texting them now it must mean that he’s already had the meeting with Bangtan. He better answer to see what he wants, it could be important.

**Woozi: Here, what’s up?**

**S.Coups: Hang on I need both of you here before I can say anything. Hosh, you have your phone back?**

**S.Coups: Hey Vernonnie, can you give Hosh his phone back please? We need to discuss leader stuff, I promise I won’t make his head explode.**

Jihoon couldn’t help but to chuckle a little bit at that. He did in fact feel a little sorry for his friend. Being stuck with Minghao and MingMing with only Vernon, Seungkwan, and Dongjin for back up. Though he knew that his friend could handle himself, Soonyoung still had a limit of what he would and would not put up.

**Hoshi: Okay Hyung I’ll give it back to him now.- V**

No matter how old Vernon got, he’d still always be a cute kid to him just like Chan.

**Hoshi: Here Hyung, what's going on?**

**S.Coups: Just got off the phone with BTS, I’ve updated them on our progress, and they have a place that we can crash at that’s secure.**

‘Wow, that was fast.’ He thought to himself. Bangtan must have figured that they were in a dire need of assistance at this point. Though he doesn’t know exactly what Seungcheol had told them.

**Woozi: That’s good right?**

**S.Coups: Yes, and we’re smack dab in the middle of GOT7 and Stray Kids, Bangtan called in a favor and they’ve agreed to help us keep watch.**

The extra protection would be a good thing on their parts. With their luck he wouldn’t be surprised if Kim sent his men to try and track them all down.

**Hoshi: Good.**

****It was then that Jihoon heard a loud bang coming from the front of their hideout. He got up with Jun and Joshua to go see what was going on. It must have been Jeonghan and Mingyu coming back with Sameul. “Hyungs, we’re back!” Mingyu shouted as they walked through the door. “Could you have been any loud Mingyu-ah I don’t think they heard you in Daegu.” Jeonghan sassed him. The taller just smiled sheepishly at him. When the three of them got into the room they saw Mingyu and Jeonghan standing in front of the door. And they could barely make out a third person standing behind them. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who that person was.

“Where’s Sammy?” Jun was the first one to ask. And hearing the elder’s voice must have been what kicked the younger’s gears into motion. “Junnie-Hyung?” Sammy asked as he peaked out from behind Mingyu. See the elder standing there perfectly fine for the most part in the flesh broke the younger out of his shyness. He darted out from behind Mingyu and ran over to Jun to give him a hug. “I’m so glad that you’re okay.” Sam said as he buried his face in the elder’s chest. Even though Sam’s grown up a whole lot in the years that he’s been gone he’s still a little bit shorter than Jun, not by a whole lot though, but Jun’s still taller. It warmed his heart to see the younger in person again. “Hey, what about the rest of us?” Jihoon quipped at him. Joshua slapped his shoulder at that remark. Sam pulled away from Jun and ran over to hug him and Joshua. “Just for that you’re getting your hug last Honnoie-Hyung.” He told him as he went to Joshua first. The eldest med student hugged him, and Sam just melted into it. Joshua has always been good at giving hugs to people. And he was one of the people that everyone could go to when they needed an ear to listen to.

Finally, he made it back to him. “I missed you kid.” Jihoon told him. “I missed you too Hyung.” Sam told him. “You’re not mad are you?” He asked him softly. “No, I’m not mad, I’m just sorry that we had to drag you into this Sammy.” He told him. “That’s okay Hyung I get it.” He told him. “And I want to help.” He told him. “Don’t worry. We’re going to fix this.” Jihoon promised him. And when he pulled away he went back to his phone to text Seungcheol.

**Woozi: So what do you need us to do now?**

**S.Coups: Start packing boys and meet me at the third safehouse. We’re going to convene all together and then head over to the new place. Once we get settled we’re having a face to face meeting with Bangtan. Got it?**

****Just as he was about to answer, he heard a shout coming from his left. He turned and saw Joshua and Mingyu holding up Jeonghan. “I told you that you need to take it easier!” Joshua chided as he and Mingyu ushered Jeonghan to the closest seat. “You’re going to wear yourself out until there’s nothing left.” He told the eldest one here sternly. Jeonghan just rolled his eyes at him. “Quit worrying Shua.” Jeonghan told him. “I’m fine, I just lost my balance for a second there.” He told him. “And we don’t have time for me to be out of commission.” He told him. “We need all hands on deck that we can get if we want to stand any sort of chance against Kim.” He pointed out. Joshua didn’t say anything to that. He just threw his hands up in the air and stalked away exasperated. And Jeonghan just sat in the chair and rolled his eyes at him. Great, those two were fighting again, wonderful, just wonderful. Where’s Seungcheol when you need him? He turned back to his phone to finally answer the older so he didn’t think that he was dead or something.

**Hoshi: Got it Hyung, I’ll get them packing.**

**Woozi: Got it, I’ll alert everyone else. And I would refrain from texting Josh-Hyung and Jeonghan-Hyung at the moment. The two of them are having one of those; it's not a fight but it definitely is a fight at the moment. Mingyu and Sammy are trying to break it up.**

**S.Coups: Great.**

Jihoon did feel a little bit sorry for the elder. He knew that his best friend loved the 2nd and 3rd eldest a lot. But he knew that it was always a big mess for him to clean up whenever the two of them started fighting. He’s pretty sure that when he dies, Seugncheol is going to be up for SaintHood, especially with putting up with those two and the rest of them. 

But they still had more important things to do now then worry about those two arguing. “Alright.” Jihoon said, gathering everyone’s attention on him. “I just texted Cheol-Hyung.” He told them. “We have to start packing everything up again.” He told them. “He just got off the phone with Bangtan, and they’ve set something up for us.” He told them. “He sent me an address to go to where the apartment is, but first he wants us to meet him at the safehouse that he and the others are at.” He told them. “Probably wants to do a roll call or something and make sure that we have everything before we get moving.” He told them. “Any questions?” He asked. They all shook their heads ‘No’ and started getting up and packing. Jihoon sighed to himself, this was going to be a very long day and it still wasn’t over yet. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Meanwhile with Bangtan.. 

It took a couple of minutes after he had finished making phone calls for Namjoon to gather everyone together in the same area. Especially since he had to wait for Taehyung to get back. The younger was supposed to take the new group of strays that he had found over to Sejin for the time being. One of his oldest friends, mentors, and confidant ever since his father died. He was his father’s second-in-command and he knew that those kids would be safe with him. And he knew that he should probably be mad at Taehyung for finding more kids in need, especially when things are as crazy as they are right now, but he couldn’t. It was a group of 7 of them. And the oldest was only a couple of months younger than Beongyu. He felt bad for them, and he wanted to help them, he really did, but he just didn’t know if it was safe for them to be around Bangtan and the life that they live in at the moment. So he just told Taehyung to take them Sejin and that he would keep them safe until they figure out how to end this one way or the other. But now they all have each other in one room. So it was time to get started on this meeting. 

“Okay.” Namjoon said as he gathered everyone’s attention on him. Everyone in the room was looking at him for him to start talking. “I just got off the phone with S.Coups from SEVENTEEN.” He told them. “They have finished tying up any loose ends that Kim could possibly use against them that they know of as of right now.” He told them. “I sent them the address of the apartment that we put aside for them as a temporary residence and they should be heading on their way now.” He informed them. And he just got a lot of nods of the head at that. “Alright, I also talked to GOT 7 and Stray Kids.” He told them. “Even though both of them had agreed to lay low during all of this, they both have agreed to help us keep watch.” He told them. “The apartment that I gave S.Coups directions to is the one that’s smack dab in the middle of their two hideouts.” Namjoon said. “Both JB and BangChan have agreed to keep and eye and ear out for any trouble that could possibly be coming our way and act as backup for us and SEVENTEEN if needed be.” He told them. 

“Any questions?” He asked them. None of them said anything, so he took that as his cue to move on. “Alright then.” He said. “Once they all get settled in we’re going to have a face to face meeting with them.” Namjoon told them. “All of us do not have to be present for this though.” He told them. Though this was more focused towards Yoongi. Even though the elder was still fairly early on in his pregnancy, to the point that that he wasn’t showing just yet, he didn’t want to take any chances with his Hyung’s health. He was trying to give the elder a chance to back out of this if he wanted to. No one was going to blame him if he did, especially Namjoon. Though chancing a look at the elder he could tell that he wasn’t going to stay out of this though. Well, you couldn’t blame him for trying though. The other people that this was directed to were the kids. “ And the same goes for you guys.” He said directly addressing TXT. All five of them were sitting huddled around one another in a little cluster. Soobin was sitting in the middle of them, and all of the other kids were looking at him. His younger cousin made eye contact with each and everyone of his own members before turning his attention back to Namjoon. “I speak for all of us when I say this Hyung.” Soobin told him. “We’re doing this, you guys aren’t doing this alone.” He told him. “It’s our choice, and we want to help as much as we can.” The younger leader told him. “We don’t want anyone else to get hurt.” And even though this was very dangerous and Namjoon would prefer if they all stayed out of it, he couldn’t help but to feel proud of his little cousin for this decision. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

After the meeting was over, the rest of TXT congregated in Soobin and Beomgyu’s room to talk things over. “You guys really did want to go right?” Soobin asked as he was sitting on his head. Yeonjun was sitting right next to him, the elder leaning his head on the younger’s shoulder and their hands were interlocked with each other. And the three youngest were sitting on Beomgyu’s bed. “I didn’t make a decision for you guys right?” He asked. All of them shook their heads. “No Hyung you didn’t.” Taehyun told him. “We all really wanted to go.” He told him. “Yeah, what Hyunnie said.” Kai butted in. “We want to help Hyung, and this is the only way.” He told him. “And this is just as much our fight as it is the Hyung’s.” He told him. “If these guys take down SEVENTEEN then who’s to stop them from going after other groups like the GOT7-Hyungs, the Stray Kids-Hyungs, Bangtan-Hyungs, and even us.” He told them. “And they might even try to go after Jungwon-ah and his group.” He told them. “And even though Heesung-Hyung is Beomgyu-Hyung’s age, and they have a lot of ‘02-liners like me and Hyun, they’re still kids Hyung.” Kai told him. “And they’re scared and have no idea what they’re doing.” He told them. 

“Kai’s right Binnie.” Yeonjun told him. “They’re just kids, Riki’s only barely 15 and can barely speak any Korean, and he’s been taken away from his home in Japan with no way back.” He told him. Soobin sighed, but agreed with them nonetheless. “ I know that, but I just want to make sure that I didn’t just steamroll you guys over with this.” He told them. “Don’t worry Hyung you didn’t.” Beomgyu told them. “We want to help.” His little brother told him. “Trust me Hyung this is all going to work out alright in the dn trust me.” He told him. He couldn’t help but to smile at his little brother. Even though he’s older and will always try his best to protect him, Beomgyu has grown up a lot in these past couple of years. He’s more confident and assured in himself and his place on the team. He’s bound and determined to do whatever it takes to help them. He really acts a whole lot like Namjoon and their uncle. Both of them would do anything that they could to help those who need it. And they are proof enough of that. 

“We’re going to be okay right Hyung?” And that voice brought Soobin back to his surroundings. He turned his attention to the maknaes who answered that question. And then it dawned on him that they are still just kids themselves. And yet they’re stuck in this huge mess that could end up getting them all killed. Even though Soobin is a lot more scared and unnerved then he lets on about this, he won’t let it show. He knows that if they do nothing, they are just as good as dead for it. At least this way they stand a fighting chance at staying alive. “ I can not say for certain.” He told them. He really wanted to tell them that everything was going to be okay and that he would fix everything, but he wasn’t going to lie to them like that when he really didn’t know. So he decided on just telling them the truth. “But I can promise you this.” He told them. “I will do everything in my power to make sure that we all get out of this alive, and safe.” He told them. “You guys are my team, my friends, my family.” He told them. “You guys and the Hyungs are all that I have left.” He said. “And I will do everything in my power to make sure that this is going to end well for us all.” He told them. And he hoped that they believed him. 

Not that long after their little talk, the makanes went out in search of Jin-Hyung to see if dinner was ready yet or if they could have snacks. (Regardless of what he said, he would let them get snacks. He was just that whipped for them, and Jungkook-Hyung too.) And that just left Soobin and Yeonjun alone in the room. The two of them moved to where they were laying, facing each other on Soobin’s bed. “You’re scared aren’t you?” Yeonjun asked him out of the blue. And Soobin really wanted to tell him that he was okay and be able to give off a persona of confidence. But this was Yeonjun, his best friend, the love of his life, the person who knows him the best besides his brother and cousin. He couldn’t lie to him. “Yes.” Soobin told him in a whisper. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt or die.” He told him. “I don’t want to lose the Hyungs.” He told him. “I don’t want to lose the kids.” He said. “And I really don’t want to lose you Hyung.” He told him. Yeonjun leaned forward and kissed the younger on the forehead. “You won’t.” Yeonjun whispered to him. “You’re not going to lose me Choi Soobin, you hear me?” He asked him. “I’m not going anywhere, you’re stuck with me.” He told him. “And don’t worry, if Namjoon-Hyung and you guys have a plan then all of this is going to work out in the end.” He told him. Soobin had no idea if Yeonjun actually believed that or if he was just saying if for his sake, but either way he believed him. Hopefully he’s right and they do all come out alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And even though I'm the one who wrote it I have no idea what Stray Kids were planning with roller skates and the catnip. I can only say that it was the 00's liner's idea and Chan will be lucky if he doesn't come out of this with a full head of grey hair. Hehe!   
> -N.


End file.
